Rockin' Love
by AriesBalorPrincess
Summary: Zoe gets the fellowship in New York, keeping her from Bluebell and learning the truth out about Harley. Wade comes to New York with his band Sippin' Whiskey, taking him away from Bluebell and the only life he's ever known. AU story!
1. Chapter 1

_**This story is set to replace Forbidden. I hope you guys enjoy this one just as much as the rest of them.  
**_ _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Hart of Dixie.**_

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"Remind me again why I have to be here." Zoe said, sipping her drink. Gigi rolled her eyes.

"Because even the best doctor in town needs a break, Zo," Gigi sighed, "you just got the fellowship and you deserve a night out. Besides this band is killer," she dreamily sighed.

"How amazing can a band from some hick town in Alabama really be?" She scoffed earning an eye roll. "Come on, Sippin' Whiskey, really?" She scoffed at the name of the band.

"They're pretty epic from what I hear," a gruffy voice said from behind her. Zoe glared at the man, her brown eyes meeting his intense green eyes, a smirk on his lips. Her eyes darted from his eyes to his lips and back to his eyes.

"You a roadie of theirs or something?" She questioned, bringing her glass of wine to her lips.

"Something like that," he remarked, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "I'm the lead…everything," he winked, walking away. Zoe gulped, watching him walk away from the corner of her eye.

"Yeah, you're getting some of that after the show," Gigi giggled. Zoe rolled her eyes, placing her glass on the bar, shaking her head.

"Oh no," Zoe replied, looking from her friend to the stage her eyes catching a green filled look. "I have standards and the last thing I need is to worry about catching anything from him," she retorted.

"Zo, you only live once. Would it really be that bad to spend a night in his bed?" Gigi asked, licking her lips, looking at the guys that were behind the cocky ego filled lead.

"Considering the groupies around the stage, it might be," Zoe quipped back, getting another drink, looking for an empty table. "I won't be an easy lay for him, not how I work, Gigi," Zoe sighed. "After everything with Drew, I just want to be single for a while and then find the perfect guy to date."

"Maybe it's that hunk," Gigi countered, pointing to the dirty blond that filled their conversations. Zoe let a puff of air out, dropping the conversation altogether. She wasn't going to spend her night arguing with her friend over a dreamy hunk. The best thing for her to do was to ignore Gigi, but that only led Zoe to watch the band, her eyes locking with the green ones from earlier. His gaze burned through her right down to her core as he sang directly to her and she was starting to wonder what else those fingers of his were good at playing.

Her cheeks started to burn the closer he got to her. She looked down becoming shy all of a sudden as he sat across from her, a bottle of beer in his hand. He had ignored the rest of the women that had been throwing themselves on him. "It's sweet of you to sing about a dog in a lightning storm," she commented, looking up at him. He shrugged, taking a long drink of his beer.

"Not all songs need to be about woman," he winked, leaning on his forearms on the table. "Chicks dig sensitive guys too," he smirked. Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Full of yourself are we?" She laughed a serious look on her face.

"How can I not be?" He asked right back, motioning to his body. Zoe laughed, taking the last sip of her wine.

"I might have to catch your next show, if you have one in the city, but it's late and I have an early day tomorrow," Zoe told him, standing up. She was unsteady on her feet and it was the muscular arms that wrapped around her waist that kept her standing. She blushed, feeling the warmth in his body.

"You okay?" He asked, lowly in her ear. She nodded, biting her bottom lip. He went to release her, but yet again he was catching her before she fell flat on her ass. He chuckled softly. "I'll help you get home," he told her. Zoe gulped, wanting to push him away, but the longer she was in his embrace the longer all thoughts left her mind.

Zoe rattled of her address once they were in the backseat of a cab. She looked at the sexy guitarist to her right and started to giggle. He cocked an eyebrow looking down at the small brunette tucked under his arm. He enjoyed having her there, right next to him, it was a feeling he had never felt before and it was a feeling that he could get use to having. "What?" He asked the second her giggles stopped.

"I've never brought a random stranger back to my place before," she told him, her hand falling to land on his upper thigh. He let a chuckle out. He had plenty of one night stands in his life. Being in a band it was easy to pick chicks up, but there was something about this one that pulled him in and he just wanted to get to know her before he made any move that ended with them rolling around in bed together, getting to know each other on a personal level. "I'm Zoe," she told him, feeling his gaze on her, bringing the blood rushing back to her face.

"Wade," he husked out in her ear.

The car ride the last few blocks were used to really get to know each other. He learned that she had lived in the city her whole life. Her mother was crazy and obsessed with work since her father walked away from them when she was only 9 years old. Learned that she was on her way to becoming a doctor and tomorrow was going to be her first day since she had graduated from college. He told her about his older brother running off to join the military the second he graduated high school. That he had lost his mother at a young age, she could see that it pained him to talk about his mom so she didn't ask any questions. He mentioned that his father liked alcohol better than his own sons. He started to play the guitar because it helped him keep his anger in check. Music was escape from the crappy life he was given. This was his first time to New York and that he was just a guy from a small town in the south and he couldn't picture living anywhere else.

By the time they were in front of Zoe's apartment door, it was like they were best friends that hadn't seen each other in the last few years.

She didn't know how she was pressed against her bedroom door, his body pushing against hers as their tongues dueled it out. She whined when he pulled away resting his forehead against hers. "As much as I want this to continue, tossing clothes about as we fumble our way to your bed, I can't," he whispered, pushing her hair behind her ears, cupping her face. "It wouldn't feel right," he told her, watching as her face fell. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, pulling her to the bed that was in the corner of the room. "I want to see you again, take you out and go from there." Zoe lit up, flinging her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

That's how they ended up in bed, Zoe's head on his chest with his arms around her protectively as they drifted off to a peaceful sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all the love on the first chapter. And I'm sorry to those of you that I had confused with the whole Forbidden thing. Anyways I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well.**

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Zoe woke up panicked having Wade's arms around her. She hadn't drank enough the night prior to where she had forgotten everything that had happened. Actually she remembered everything that happened quite vividly. She tensed feeling him move and bringing her with him. Once she was sure that he was still deep in sleep, she slipped from his grip. She walked to her bathroom gathering her clothes as she went, she glanced once more at Wade, shutting the door. She had a lot to think about when it came to Wade.

A smile spread across her face as she remembered how he was the one to stop them from doing the one thing she would have regretted. He wasn't as rough as he made himself out to be and she liked that about him, but she was quick to realize that things between them would never work out so what was the point in trying? Sure they could be friends, but nothing more. Her home was New York and his home was in Bluebell, it wouldn't work out.

Dressed and ready to face Wade she walked out of the bathroom. She gave him a smile, blushing with the way he was staring at her with intensity behind his eyes and the fact that she couldn't take her eyes off his bare chest. He was sitting up in her bed, the sheet lying across his lap as he leaned against the headboard of her bed.

Wade had woken up confused as he tried to figure where he was. He was supposed to be sharing a hotel room with Meatball of all people, but Meatball was his best friend. He took in the pale yellow walls and the white bedspread. Blinking the sleep from his eyes and the smell of jasmine that filled his nostrils, he smiled remembering how he had followed Zoe home, wanting to make sure that she got here okay, he smirked remembering the hot make out session they had pressed against her door. A soft smile crossed his lips as he remembered how right she felt curled up to him all night long. He was happy that he had put a stop to things going any further than kissing and a little groping.

He didn't know what was going to happen with Zoe. He wanted to be sure that whatever happened between them that it would work out even with distance between them. He wanted to be her friend, he wanted to be given the chance to really get to know her and see if there was more to her than just her good looks. He had a feeling that there was a lot to her and he wanted to find that out, to have that chance.

He was forced to hold back a groan when she stepped from the bathroom, steam rolling around her. He watched as she walked around the room, sitting on the end of the bed, avoiding any looks in his direction. He felt hurt until he realized that he was still in his boxers. That's when he started to feel slightly awkward about this whole situation. He grabbed for his jeans and slipped them on. Finding his white shirt was easy; he slipped that on walking into her bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

He flicked the light off walking back out to the bedroom; he sat on her bed, turning to look at her. She gave him a nervous smile. This totally felt like the morning after and they hadn't even done anything remotely awkward the night before.

"Friends," Zoe told him, licking her lips. "I find it impossible to be anything but friends. This is my home and I don't have any plans of ever leaving this city. We can't be anything more, it would be too hard. I think it's best we stay friends," Zoe told him quickly wanting to get it over with as fast as she could. "We need to be realistic here."

"I agree with you to an extant about only being friends. We can't be anything more until we are friends and at this point we're barely friends," he responded. "But I'm not going to stop my feelings for you if I start to like you in a romantic way just like I hope you won't do the same thing. If anything does blossom between us, we can sort it out at a later date," Wade told her, putting it out there for her. "I do want to be your friend Zoe. You have anything to eat around here?" He asked, hearing his stomach start to rumble. Zoe got up with a playful eye roll.

"I'm not a cook, but there's this great little place around the corner," she told him, grabbing her purse on the way out the door. With the door shut and locked, the two of them walked to the elevator in silence. She knew she could easily be his friend. She wasn't sold on letting her feelings develop for him any further than that. Did she want her feelings to grow for him? If they did, would she be able to keep them hidden? Question's swirled around her head and she didn't have an answer to them and they were already starting to drive her crazy.

"I think you'd like Bluebell," Wade commented stuffing his hands in his pockets as he walked next to Zoe on the busy streets. Zoe almost stopped completely hearing that comment coming from his mouth, but she kept on walking. She didn't want to brush his comment off because she didn't know if she would like the small town or not. The city was all she had ever known.

"If I ever get the chance to visit then we will see if your thinking is correct," she replied, pulling a door open. The smell of fresh baked pastry's and bacon hit Wade as he walked in, his stomach rumbling with anticipation. He followed Zoe to a small table in the back corner.

"There's just more to life than always being on the go," he replied, looking over the menu that was lying on the table. "Do you even get the chance to stop and smell the roses here in the city?" He asked her. Biting her lip she shook her head. She loved that about the city though, always on the go, never being able to stop, never having the time to second guess herself.

"I've kept myself busy because I want to be proud of who I am, proud of my life and I needed to be driven to make my career happen, I don't have the time to stop, I need to be moving at all times," Zoe told him seriously.

"You're letting life pass you by, Zoe. There's more to life than working all the time. I'm not saying that your life is a waste because you're only focused on your career, but you need to loosen up and have fun," he told her a smirk coming out. "And this weekend while I'm here I'm going to show you just that. By the time I leave Monday morning you're going to have had the best weekend of your life."

Zoe looked down, biting her lip. That sounded tempting and she didn't have anything to lose and this was her last weekend of freedom before things started up at the hospital. There was so much to the city that she hadn't even explored yet.

"Well Wade, I guess come Monday morning we'll see if you are right or not," Zoe replied turning back to her menu.


	3. Chapter 3

Zoe smiled standing in front of her apartment building. She had more fun today than she's had in years, heck she couldn't even remember a time when she had that much fun as a child. Wade had forced her to do some tourist things and explore the city that she called home. She had protested with him on everything in her not to ride the subway but he refused and pulled her long for the ride and after she got over the germs and a few creepy people that liked to leer at her, she had fun and she felt herself start to unravel.

 _Standing in front of the Statue of Liberty Zoe had frowned and Wade noticed that the good spirits that Zoe had been in for the last few hours had drained away. "Is something wrong princess?" Wade drawled, bumping her with his shoulder. The fact that she only looked down and hadn't admonished him yet again for calling her princess, he knew something huge was going on in that pretty little head of hers._

 _"The last time I was here I was 8 and it was the last thing I had done with my Dad," Zoe replied, finding the ground more interesting than anything else, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill over._

 _"We don't have to do it, Zo," Wade told her taking a more serious tone to his voice. "Today was suppose to be about fun and letting loose," he added on, not wanting Zoe to feel like she had to do this. At no point today was he making her do anything that she didn't want to do, he could see through her protest that she wanted to do them, she just wasn't sure and he was only giving her that push that she needed and most the time it was only a little nudge._

 _"I want to do it, Wade," Zoe told him lightly biting her lip, looking up at him. She needed new memories of the place, ones that wouldn't make her cry for a father that no longer wanted her. She still found that she blamed herself for him walking away from her. She could have been better; she could have done things differently. She had to show her father that she wasn't just some dumb kid that he had left, that she could excel just like he had. She shook the thoughts from her head, now wasn't the time to worry about those things, she was going to have fun. "Come on," she giggled, pulling him behind her by the wrist. Wade smiled and followed behind the brunette._

"I had fun today despite the smelly subway," Zoe told him, her hands behind her back. Wade laughed.

"Ya know for as far as city adventures go, it was good, but I still have more in store for you, Miss Hart," he smirked.

"I can't wait," Zoe announced her smile brightening. She took a step back.

"So I have this gig tonight, you in?" Wade asked, stepping closer.

"Maybe," Zoe replied, biting her lip.

"I'll text ya the details," he replied, closing the small distance between them, kissing her cheek, lingering a few extra minutes. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked off.

Zoe rushed into her building feeling the blood rushing to her cheeks. She wore a dazed smile all the way up to her apartment, getting a few funny looks from a few people in the building. But Zoe didn't notice as she made her way into her apartment, tossing her purse in the chair. She went to her room to look through the closet on what she could wear tonight. She settled on a red blouse and a black mini skirt. She stepped from her bathroom her hair wrapped up in a towel and her robe wrapped around her body. As she walked past her house phone she picked it up to scroll through the call list.

It wasn't until she saw that she had a missed call from the hospital on her land line that had her start to panic, it was the message that had her freaking out on the fact that she had missed today at the hospital and it was mandatory that she be there and she needed to talk Dr. Johnson bright and early Monday morning. Dread pooled in the pit of her stomach. Today had been the day she had been waiting for all through med-school. The Friday she had been looking forwards too and she was stupid enough to go out and drink and spend her day with a guy from the band that kept her head in the clouds. She was ruining her career over nothing and she couldn't let it happen again.

She found herself in bed wearing shorts and a tee watching a movie when Wade's text had came through; Zoe deleted the message before she even read it. She wasn't going to let herself get distracted again. She was going to spend her weekend at home fussing over her meeting on Monday and what she could say and do to keep the fellowship. This was her life at stake and she couldn't get off track no matter how tempting it was for her.

Wade had navigated the busy streets a smug smile on his face. He had never met anyone like Zoe before. He didn't think he would ever meet another soul like her either. He was attracted to her like a moth to a flame. The weekend couldn't last long enough for him either. He already knew what they were going to be spending tomorrow doing, just a nice relaxing day at the park; maybe he could finally convince her to try a hot dog from one of the many vendors that loitered in the streets.

"Where the heck have you been?" Meatball asked the second Wade walked into the hotel room. Wade shrugged; it wasn't any of his business on what he did with his own down time between gigs.

"Out," he replied, gathering what he was going to need for his shower.

"It was a girl wasn't it?" Meatball asked accusation in his voice.

"Yeah, but she wasn't just any girl, Meatball, she was," he paused to think of a word that would sum Zoe Hart up, but he was having a hard time trying to find a word, he really should have spent more time paying attention in English class. "She's something else entirely," he settled on, shutting the bathroom door for a quick shower.

"We're here for the gigs, Wade, not for you to fall head over ass in love with some chick that you won't ever see again after this weekend is over with," Meatball jumped on him the second he was finished in the bathroom. Wade rolled his eyes at his friend stuffing his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans.

"I ain't falling for her, but if I do, it doesn't have any effect on you whatsoever," Wade half hissed out, pulling on a plaid button up shirt. He was in mood to listen to his friend tell him what he could or couldn't do with Zoe Hart, it wasn't any of his business and that was why he wasn't going to tell him anymore than he already had told him. He sent the message to Zoe after he found the details that he couldn't remember earlier. Putting his phone on silent he shoved it into his pants pocket. Grabbing his guitar he headed out the door, ready to walk the half a block to the little bar they would be playing at tonight.

Every song they played, he kept searching the sea of faces for hers, but he never found her and he felt a pang of hurt in his chest. He pushed it aside and played on. By the time that they were done, he was pissed and fuming at the petite brunette doctor, that he was having trouble doing anything right.

"You were amazing up there." Wade glanced up from the bottle of beer that he had been nursing to see a red head, in a barely there black dress.

"Thanks," he muttered not in the mood for whatever the chick wanted. He wasn't going to fall for anymore little New York female acts. He learned his lesson with Zoe the hard way. He stood up quickly feeling her hands on his bicep, her hands were like ice. He downed the rest of his beer and headed out. He had every intention to storm over to Zoe's place and give her a piece of his mind, but his feet had taken him back to the hotel he was staying at.

 _'What the hell, Princess?'_ He typed out on his phone and sent the text to Zoe. He didn't understand what could have possibly happened from when he left her on the front steps of her apartment building to now. She had looked excited to come to his gig tonight; at least she did in his mind. There was no way that he was reading the signals she was sending him wrong. He tossed the phone to the side of his bed, his eyes drifting shut before he could see that Zoe replied back to him with,

 _'It won't work out, Wade. I'm sorry.'_


	4. Chapter 4

An hour after Wade had woken up he found himself outside of Zoe's apartment door. When he first got there a couple was leaving and he was able to sneak in. He took the stairs instead of the elevator; he still had no idea what he was going to say to her when he was face to face with her. But the trek up the stairs only angered him more for her to blow him off so easily. Most the times he would just walk away if some chick pulled this BS on him, but this wasn't just some chick this was a woman that he had grown to like having around as a friend, a woman that he could easily grow to have romantic feelings for one day if she would let him in. He could see the mile wide walls that she had around herself that she closed herself off to happiness in all forms except for work, she had told him enough about her family to gather a picture, and he wanted to think that she was like that because her dad had left her and her mom kept herself busy with work ignoring her growing up. He knew how that felt to extant, his father became a raging alcoholic after his mom had died and his brother had jet on him. He envied his brother for so many years, his brother had pissed him off along the way leaving him there to take care of his father, but Jesse was only going out there to do what he wanted and why should Wade play babysitter to a man that can take care of himself?

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, he pushed himself off the wall opposite Zoe's apartment and knocked on the door. He couldn't waste anymore time staring at the door, in his own thoughts. He came here to see Zoe and get answers on why she had ditched him last night and why she no longer wanted to be friends with him.

"Wade?" Zoe questioned, pulling her door open. "What are you doing here?" She asked, leaning against the door jamb, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I want some answers Princess," he replied, stepping closer to her.

"What answers?" She asked, playing dumb. "And what did I say about calling me Princess?" She scoffed, battling the smile that wanted to come out and Wade had picked up on that.

"You know what answers Princess," he smirked, "we can either do this out here for your neighbors to hear or we can go inside and be left in private," he winked at her. She glared at him as she pushed the door open wider, stepping aside to let him enter. "What's going on?" He asked, leaning against the back of her couch, his feet crossed, and his hands resting on the back of the couch. "I thought you had fun yesterday, what changed?"

"The fact that I blew off work for you and now come Monday I might be kicked from the fellowship," Zoe gruffly told him, keeping herself at a safe distance. Telling him things wouldn't work out in text was so much easier than telling him to his face.

"They'd be nuts to do that to you," Wade stated.

"How would you know?" Zoe asked, hands on her hips.

"'Cause anyone with a brain and eyes can see how medicine is your passion," he retorted in a duh tone.

"Anyway," Zoe stated, letting the compliment roll off her back like it was nothing, but in reality him saying that had lightened her mood. She had tried for years for her father to see that and he couldn't but one stranger could see that in less then 48 hours. "I have a very important meeting on Monday that I need to get ready for, therefore I don't have time to mess around and goof off all weekend long," she sighed, losing the need to fight with him.

"Zo it's Saturday, you don't have to lock yourself away to prepare for a meeting that you have in your back pocket already," Wade told her, a hand running through the short hair on his head. Zoe gave him a smile.

"I have some Chinese food coming, more than enough if you want to stay," Zoe told him, moving to sit down on the couch. Wade flipped himself over the back of the couch, a grin plastered on his face.

"No need to ask me twice," he smirked, "Whatcha watching?" He asked with a soft groan seeing the chick flick on the TV screen. "Don't you have something with gore, violence, explosions and car chases?" He asked.

"Uh no," Zoe told him with an amused smile on her face.

"Then it's settled after the food gets here we're heading out for the day," Wade informed her. Just because there had been a small hitch in his plans doesn't mean that he can't still pull it off. "Go get dressed," he told her, looking her over. She was wearing an old tee shirt and what he had assumed was shorts underneath because she had a lot of tone and tanned leg on show.

"There's money by the door for the food," Zoe informed him, pushing herself off the couch and walking to her bedroom.

The second her door shut there was a knock on the main door. Wade got up pulling his wallet out of his pocket. He took the food and paid the delivery guy, giving him a tip and all. With the food in hand he headed into Zoe's kitchen and dug through the cupboards until he had found everything he needed to find. "You're the only person I know that randomly has a picnic basket sitting on their kitchen counter," Wade laughed, not looking up from what he was doing when he heard Zoe approach.

"It's my Mother's doing," Zoe replied, with a shrug not really able to explain why it was there in the first place, she hadn't really noticed it. "What are you doing?" She asked, leaning against the counter next to him.

"We're going to the park and not Central Park, 'cause everyone goes there," he replied.

"And what park are we headed to?" Zoe asked, moving over the fridge to get a couple bottles of ice cold water.

"Prospect Park," he replied, taking the water and placing it in the basket.

"But that's in Brooklyn," Zoe stated.

"I know," Wade smirked. "Are you afraid of Brooklyn?" He teased.

"Of course not," Zoe replied, walking ahead of him, getting what she was going to need, seeing the money was still there, she bit the inside of her lip, pulling the door open letting him go first. He was always finding ways to amaze her. She turned around to lock her place up, joining him in walking to the elevator. "It's just that there are parks a lot closer," she stated.

"Ya I know but my buddy George told me all about Prospect Park and I wanna see if it lives up to it's hype," he shrugged. Other than Central Park he didn't know any other parks and what they had to offer except for Prospect Park and the way George talked about it, he wanted to check it out himself.

"Are you good with riding the subway?" Zoe asked. There was no way they could walk to the park and she wasn't about ready to sit in traffic in a cab either.

"Me?" Wade laughed in her face. "You were the one that didn't want to get on," he pointed out.

"Because I saw how panicked you were. So I took the focus of that and put it on me" she shrugged. "I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable. Other than that creepy dude, and the kid that kept sneezing and coughing on me, I really thought I was going to catch what he had, I had nothing against it," she explained, pulling out her Metrocard.

"Quite the little manipulator you are," he quipped, with a smile on his face. Because he wasn't sure about riding the subway the second Zoe started to freak out about going on, all he could focus on was getting Zoe to loosen up and enjoy the ride and his own freaks about the subway vanished. "Bravo to you," he laughed.

"It worked and that's what counted," she shrugged. She wanted him to enjoy the city as much as she loved it here, so that way he would come back. "You know I've heard about Bluebell and your friends there and very little about your parents, but I haven't heard much about you, other than your band what is it you do?" Zoe asked, as they made their way down the stairs that led to the subway.

"I work as a bartender at the Rammer Jammer," he replied with a shrug.

"The Rammer Jammer?" Zoe questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh yeah, it's a bar and restaurant, the only one in town. Well there is Fancies but you need to dress up and have a reservation and whatnot," he told her with a shrug. "Can't say I've been there before," he added on. It was the truth he never needed to go there, never had anyone that he needed to dress up for and make any kind of an impression on. "Let's see, I played football in high school, broke a rib blocking a player once."

"I can see you playing ball," Zoe smiled.

"I would like to say I could see you as a cheerleader but that isn't even close is it?" He asked a smile on his face. "Nah, you were the big nerd in school," he tacked on not giving her a chance to reply, lighting bumping her shoulder with his.

"I'm proud of the nerd I was in school," she replied back sticking her tongue out at him. He laughed at her antics. Yeah she was pretty awesome once she let her guard down and let herself have some fun.

Getting to the park was filled with laughs and jokes. Things flowed between them like they had known each other since they were little kids. They had found a nice little spot in the long meadow to sit and enjoy their little picnic.

"How do you like the city?" Zoe asked, swallowing the bite of food she had in her mouth.

"Honestly?" He asked around a bite of rice. "I hate it," he told her, swallowing the food in his mouth. "It's big and loud and crowded. There are no frogs or crickets at night, just cars and people. This place isn't for me," he explained.

"That's too bad," Zoe sighed, pushing her food around.

"Hey Zo," he whispered, moving closer to her, lifting her head up so he could see her brown eyes. "The best part of being here is spending time with you. I'll deal with everything else, but I've enjoyed every single second I've been with you. Highlight of my trip," he smiled, pressing a kiss to her cheek, feeling her blood rushing to her cheeks under his lips.

"How about we head to the Zoo?" She asked, cleaning up the mess they had. She giggled lightly seeing the way Wade's eyes grew with excitement at her little suggestion.

"Let's go," Wade stated, helping her grab the trash.

They had talked as they looked at the prairie dogs; Wade had skipped over the porcupines saying he's seen his far share of those guys. Zoe rolled her eyes and followed on behind him to the red pandas, emus, dingos, tufted deer and the river otters. Walking to the next exhibit on Animal lifestyles their hands were linked together, fingers laced. Zoe adored the Golden Lion Tamarins, the dwarf mongooses and the meerkats.

"I want one," Zoe cooed, looking at a little fluffy Pallas' Cat. Wade chuckled, and caressed her hand with his thumb.

"I don't think they're made for your apartment, Zo," he replied, looking at the cute little cat with orange eyes.

"I could hide it in there," she retorted, moving to walk to the next animal on their way. Wade shook his head, keeping his mouth shut.

"They look like my brother," Wade commented looking at the Hamadryas baboons. Zoe stifled her laugher and lightly hit his arm. "What it's true," he laughed.

"That's not very nice," Zoe scolded him, pulling him from the baboons.

"You haven't met my brother, princess, you wouldn't know if he looked like them or not. I swear the big one was him. He was scary looking, that's Jesse," Wade told her, a serious look on his face. Zoe rolled her eyes at him and kept walking; Wade slung his arm over her shoulder, pulling her close to him as they headed to see the Sea Lions.

Before they got to the Sea Lions Zoe pulled him off in a different directions. He was confused at first until he saw that she had stopped in front of the Poison's Dart frogs. "Here are those frogs for you," she commented with a sly smile. Wade laughed, pulling her in for a hug. She was something else and he was more than glad that he had met her.

After walking around most of the park, enjoying each other's company, the sun was starting to set on them they decided to call it a day and head back to Zoe's place grabbing a pizza on the way. Zoe was happy that Wade had showed up and made her see just how silly she had been about things.


	5. Chapter 5

**A huge thank you to cadenf for asking a lot of little random questions and sharing her thoughts, without them this chapter would have been something different altogether. And to the guest, I didn't mind your comment about the subway, it actually helped with the previous chapter so thank you for that. Enjoy this chapter everyone!**

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Zoe had her head on Wade's shoulder as the action packed movie he had found on TV played. It was only a little after 10 at night but Zoe was starting to feel tired. Between spending hours worrying and fussing over her meeting on Monday morning and spending the rest of her day with Wade at the park she was feeling the sleep wanting to creep up on her and she was more than happy to let it take over her body. It was Wade's phone ringing that had her jumping. Rolling her eyes at herself, she got up and went to the kitchen for a drink of water giving Wade some privacy during his phone call. She did wonder who would be calling him this late at night. She figured and a small part of her hoped that it was someone from the band calling to see where he was and not some woman calling him. Seeing the fallen look on his face upon entering the living room, her fear wasn't put aside. "What's going on?" She asked, sitting on the couch, curling her feet underneath herself.

"I uh got a gig tonight, totally forgot about it," he told her sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. The last thing he wanted to do was run out on her when they were having a nice little night in.

"Oh," Zoe responded, finding it funny and ironic that he had been able to make her forget about her work stuff and she was able to do the same to him. They really were in their own little world. She was sad that he had to rush out to get to his next gig, but that was why he was here for, he wasn't here to visit her, work had brought him here and he couldn't just put work aside to stay inside and watch movies with her. "Have fun and I'll uh see you tomorrow then?" She questioned, walking to the door to see him out.

"Why don't you come with me?" He questioned, turning in the spot he had yet to move from. He wasn't ready for tonight with Zoe to end and in all fairness she had missed his gig the night before. Zoe bit her lip giving him a smile.

"I don't know," she finally told him. Staying in and going to bed sounded rather good to her but on the other hand going out with Wade would be fun and she did want to spend more time with him.

"Come on, Zo, it'll be fun. You do owe me this one," he pleaded with her. "It's the last gig I have this weekend, please?" He begged he wasn't above begging, not if it was going to give him what he wanted. And seeing the smile break out on her face he knew that begging had the desired effect he was going for.

"I guess it won't be that bad to go," she caved, flashing him a soft smile. "I'll just go change," she stated, looking down at the tee and shorts she had changed into after getting home. Wade nodded, letting her go a grin on his face.

A few minutes later Zoe came back out dressed in jeans and a tank top. Wade pulled the door open letting her go out first. She smiled, pulling her keys out to lock her place up. "You look beautiful," Wade told her, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He smiled seeing the blush that covered her cheeks.

"Thanks," she replied, not really sure what else she could say to that.

They remained quiet as they walked along the streets people passing them by still in a hurry. Wade just didn't understand why they all had to be in a hurry for. To him it seemed like they were missing out on life and they were letting their life pass them by because they just didn't take the time to enjoy the little moments that made life wonderful along the way.

His hand had slipped down to rest against her lower back, guiding her to the little pub they needed to be at. She smiled up at him as he pulled the door open for her. "What do we have here?" Meatball asked eyeing his best friend and band mate up and the petite brunette that Wade had brought into his side, his arm slung over her shoulders in a protective manner.

Zoe looked up at Wade with a questioning look on her face. Wade moved around to stand in front of her blocking Meatball off and ignoring him for the time being. "Why don't you get yourself a drink and find a table to sit at, I've got a few things to do with the band, okay?" Wade questioned. Zoe smiled, lightly kissing his cheek. Pulling back her face was flushed red. With a nervous smile on her face, she hurried off to the bar. Wade watched her go through the throng of people a silly smile on his face.

"Well?" Meatball questioned, bring Wade's attention around. "Is that the chick you've been ditching us for?" He asked a shock expression on his face. "Dude, we strictly stated before coming here that if we found some hot chick it would be a quick hook up and spend the day doing some band stuff in the city, not chasing tail," Meatball sighed exasperated.

"I ain't chasing tail. Zoe is my friend. Ditching you guys?" He asked with a laugh. "It's hard to ditch guys that don't get outta bed until show time. I wanted to see the city and I found a friend to do that with. I haven't hooked up with any chick since getting here and I don't plan to hook up with anyone either. What I do in my spare time is none of you business," Wade hissed, pushing past him to get set up and get his guitar tuned in for the night. He was thankful that the guys had grabbed his guitar for him. With one look around the pub he was easily able to spot Zoe, a smile wanted to tug at his lips until he saw the black haired douche sit down next to her.

"Uh hey," Zoe said shyly. "What are you doing here?" She asked, looking around the pub to see if any of his friends were here, but she couldn't see much from where she was sitting. The table had the best view of the stage and that was the only thing that really mattered to her. She sent Wade a smile, not having the time to think about why he looked to be pissed off for, when she felt a warm hand on her wrist.

"It's a Saturday night, Zo; I came out to have fun with my friends. Something you didn't know how to do, so why are you here?" He questioned with a smirk. Zoe pulled her hand from his, sending him a glare.

"I would appreciate it if you would keep your hands to yourself. I'm here to have fun and let lose," Zoe retorted an evil smirk on her face. "Just you wait and see Drew," she said, turning to look at Wade, "I'll be leaving with him," she stated, her eyes never leaving Wade's green ones. He sent her a wink causing the blood to come rushing back to her cheeks.

"You're a slut now?" Drew laughed, beside her. "You want a real ride, while you know where to find me," he husked in her ear. Zoe moved away from him, turning to glare up at him.

"You weren't all that good, Drew. Ever heard of faking it?" Zoe questioned with a smirk, seeing the anger flash in his blue eyes.

"Still the same bitch as ever," he seethed, stalking off. Zoe rolled her eyes, turning back to watch Wade do his thing.

Just like the first time she had heard them, she was memorized by the softness in Wade's voice as he sang and the expertise way his fingers slid over each chord that he played. Within a few words of the first song Zoe had found herself out of her seat dancing on the little floor, Wade's eyes following her every movement. Her gaze finding his as he sang about friends turning into lovers, his green gaze burned deep within her, stirring a whole new set of feelings that had laid dormant the last few years. It scared her and that's why she pushed them back down where they had come from.

"It's true then?" Drew smirked, blocking the patch for Wade and Zoe.

"Please don't do this Drew," Zoe begged.

"Do what?" Drew asked, with a drunken smirk on his face. "You're the one leaving with a band member, I'm not doing anything," he stated, towering over them, a slight sway in his stature.

"Back off," Wade hissed under his breath, his anger from earlier coming back to him where this guy was concerned.

"She a bit feisty in the sack," Drew laughed. That's all it took for Wade to pull back and punch the guy square in the face. Shaking his hand that had connected he used his other hand to lightly grasp Zoe's hand and pull her outside with him. She barely had time to grab his guitar case that had been lying on the floor next to them.

"Who was that guy?" Wade asked, dropping Zoe's hand to hold his hand that was starting to pound with pain, on the walk back to Zoe's apartment that was only a few blocks from the pub they were at for till the wee hours of the morning.

"An ex," Zoe replied, keeping her focus on the sidewalk in front of her. "I'm sorry about him," she stated, glancing at him. "How's the hand?"

"Painful," he stated with sarcasm. "Dude's a jackass, not sure what you saw in him," he muttered loud enough for Zoe to hear him.

"He was nothing like that at first," Zoe shrugged. "Jealousy makes us do stupid things," she stated. Wade grunted in response knowing all about the stupid shit he had done because the green eyed monster had crept up on him. Like tonight.

The rest of the walk to Zoe's place was done in silence. Reaching the apartment building, Wade kissed her cheek, "I'll see ya tomorrow alright?" He asked. Zoe nodded, handing his guitar over to him.

"Why don't you come on up and I'll take a look at your hand for you," Zoe told him with more of an authoritative tone to her voice. He nodded and followed behind her. He placed his guitar by the door and followed her into the kitchen. He sat on the counter. Zoe took his hand in hers. He cringed lightly as she felt for any breaks in his hand. With a smile which he took as a good sign she walked over to the freezer and pulled out an ice pack. "Nothing's broken, it's just a little swollen," she told him, placing the ice pack on his hand.

"Want to finish the movie we started?" He asked, slipping from the counter. Zoe nodded, pushing her hair behind her ear and walked to the living room, to get the movie started up once more.


	6. Chapter 6

"Zoe Hart!" Hearing her mother's screech fill her ears, Zoe opened her eyes, finding that she was laying on top of Wade, who was smirking at her, hiding the fear and awkwardness that was starting to creep in. She gave him a soft smile, before looking up at her mom.

"What are you doing here, Mom?" Zoe asked, sitting up. Taking a glance between the two women, Wade got up and made himself scarce for the time being, the last place he wanted to be was in the middle of a mother and daughter fight.

"Oh nothing of importance it seems," Candice sneered, putting her hands on her hips. "We had made plans for brunch today with a little shopping afterwards," she snapped. Zoe sighed, closing her eyes. Plans with her mother had totally slipped from her mind and it wasn't something that she could blame on Wade either, considering that she had forgot about the plans with her mom days after they were made over a month ago.

"I'm sorry, we can do dinner," Zoe told her, wanting to please her and send her on her merry little way.

"We can't because I'm leaving in a few hours and I'll be gone for a month," Candice huffed.

"Then we'll catch up when you get back," Zoe told her, finally daring to glance at a clock to see what time it truly was. Her eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets seeing that it was 2 in the afternoon.

"Oh we will and you're going to tell me everything about the hoodlum that I caught you sleeping with," Candice demanded.

"He's just a friend, Mother," Zoe hissed, getting to her feet.

"What kind of friend, Zoe?" Candice stated, walking out the door leaving an angry daughter behind. Zoe banged her head on the door, she couldn't believe that her mother would just accuse her of things; well actually she could believe that. Even if it was tempting to cross the line they had drew it wasn't going to happen, he was her friend and she liked having him in her life as a friend and after he leaves tomorrow it's going to be hard to say what's going to happen between them, and she didn't see the point in ruining one of the better weekends she's had in a long time over sex.

"I didn't mean to make you miss brunch with your Mom," Wade said almost sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Not your fault," Zoe replied. "Plans were made over a month ago and I had forgotten about it long before I met you," Zoe explained, turning around to face him. "I'm sorry for that," she told him.

"In all the years that I've been around, I've never been caught by a chicks Mom before," he grinned. "The one time all we're doing was sleeping too," he chuckled, running a hand through his hair. Some of the awkwardness from when Zoe's mom and rudely woken them up was still lingering around and he's never been one to deal with things like this, that he didn't know how to really handle it. Being chased off by fathers, brothers and crazy ex's happened, but those he could deal with, but Zoe's mom, it was weird.

Zoe looked down, not sure how to take that statement in and it was making things worse than they already were, so she had no choice but to change the topic. "How's your hand?" She asked. Wade looked down at his hand that was now a little red and still sore from last night. The swelling had gone down.

"It's good," he replied with a shrug. "I'm going to head out and change and I'll be back in about an hour and we can spend the rest of the day together, sound good?" Wade asked, moving to the door, where Zoe still stood.

"Yeah," she told him, pulling her door open for him. At first she thought that he was going to leave and not come back, but then again just because he said he was going to be back it didn't really mean that he was going to show up, not after the accident that happened not even 20 minutes ago with her mother. But she believed him, believed that he would be back, he had yet to give her any reason not to trust him.

With Wade gone Zoe fell against the door sighing. Her mom had horrible timing. With a frown she walked to where her phone was and checked to see if she had called or even sent her any text messages that would have been the logical thing to do. Seeing the several missed calls and new texts from her mom she groaned, dropping her phone to the couch. She didn't realize that she was quite that tired. They had stayed up early into the hours of the morning talking and watching movies before they had crashed, so it was no wonder that she had slept so late in the day, something she had never done before. She was great at getting up early and starting her day off right. She hated to miss any time during the day wasting it with sleep.

Pushing the thoughts away she walked to her room getting clothes and headed for a shower, she didn't want to waste anymore time and have Wade show up while she was still getting ready or even in the shower and have him think that she was avoiding him. It would be easy to do but she didn't want to do that, she did want things to go back to the way they had been before her mom barged in on them, doing nothing but sleeping on the couch.

An hour later found Zoe pacing in front of her front door, her phone in her hand waiting for Wade to show up and she could buzz him in. She looked out her peep hole after every few passes, thinking that he had snuck in when someone left the building, but even that wasn't the case and he was late. Fear about him ditching her came to the forefront of her mind. It had to be even more awkward for him than it was for her. The knock at her door made her jump, dropping her phone in the process. Laughing nervously at herself she picked the phone up and placed it on the table by the door while she pulled the door open, a smile lighting her features as she saw Wade standing on the other side.

"You ready?" Wade asked. Zoe nodded, grabbing her purse.

"Yep, so what do you have planned for today?" She asked, locking her door behind her.

"You're the New Yorker here; shouldn't you be showing me the city and not the other way around?" He asked with a smirk, pressing the button for the elevator.

"I guess," Zoe told him in thought. "We can just walk around and do tourist things if you want," she suggested. "Whatever you want to see and do." She wasn't picky on what they did, she wanted Wade to enjoy her city and have a longing for it after he's already left.

"Let our feet lead the way," he smirked, "sounds like a heck of an idea to me, show me your favorite spots," he winked, causing Zoe to blush. She nudged him with her shoulder.

"I can do that," she replied a smile on her face and the awkwardness from earlier vanishing before their very eyes.

That's how they spent the rest of their day, walking around the city letting their Sunday be a lazy one. Zoe was pointing things out to him. Most the time he didn't care about the things that Zoe was pointing to or even saying, he was just having a good time spending the last few of his hours with her, it was a trip he sure wasn't going to forget anytime soon. He smirked, seeing a pizza vender on the street and he pulled Zoe with him and ordered two slices of pizza, he was actually surprised when Zoe knew the vendor by name. He laughed and took his slice and they continued on their way around the city. That's when he learned that she would eat pizza on the streets but not a hot dog. The hot dog he had was pretty good but the pizza was prettying amazing.

"I don't want to keep you," Zoe told him, sitting on her couch next to him after their walk around the city. When the sun went down and the lights came out, they walked around for another hour but then called it a night, because Zoe did need to be up early for her meeting at the hospital.

"Nonsense, Zo," he remarked. "But I should go, I don't want you to oversleep and miss your meeting again tomorrow," he told her, making no move to actually get up. They let the show on TV pull them in. It wasn't until an hour later that Wade had actually gotten up and made his way to her door, Zoe right there to see him out.

"I had a lot of fun this weekend, thank you," she told him, kissing his cheek softly.

"My pleasure," he smirked. "I had a lot of fun as well."

"Night Wade," she told him solemnly.

"Night Princess," he whispered, kissing her cheek.

Zoe watched him walk away, sending her one final smile before he disappeared from her sight. With a soft sigh, Zoe shut and locked her door, turning things off on her way to bed.


	7. Chapter 7

**_I'm so sorry for all the confusion with this chapter the first time I posted it, I really need to start checking my own facts if I can't remember something. But it's fixed and hopefully it's all cleared up for those of you that have previously read this chapter before I changed the beginning of it._**

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Zoe had woken up extra early making sure she had plenty of time to get ready and get to the hospital for her meeting. Walking out of her room to start brewing a cup of coffee for herself, she busied herself in the kitchen while waiting for her coffee. With her coffee finished she headed back to her room to finish getting ready, trying extra hard to keep her mind from Wade, wasting valuable time she could use at the hospital. Rushing out her door, she failed to notice the man leaning against the wall.

"Mornin' to ya too, Doc," Wade greeted, his voice filled with fake cheer, following behind. Zoe gave him a tight smile looking over her shoulder. The urge to scream had been there but she knew Wade's voice. She had half a mind to turn around and smack him for scaring the life out of her, but she refrained from doing so, because afterall it was nice seeing him again.

"Morning Wade, what are you still doing here?" She asked. She wasn't trying to be rude, but she remembered him leaving last night. "How'd you get into the building?"

"People are clueless," Wade confirmed with a shrug. "I was going to wait outside for ya but I didn't wanna miss ya when you come out. I wasn't going to come back but then I realized that after all of this time, I still wanted a few more minutes to see ya," he explained, looking down.

"So you came back just to see me?" Zoe questioned a look of disbelief on her face. "And I could really call the cops on ya for stalking me," she stated with a smile on her face.

"Yeah I did want to see ya once more before I left. Stupid I know, but I couldn't help it. And you wouldn't call the police on me," he challenged, earning a soft laugh from Zoe.

"It isn't stupid Wade, it's sweet," Zoe told him, giving him a real smile this time. "I have time if you want to go and get a quick bite of breakfast," Zoe offered.

"Sure, my flight isn't until this afternoon." He wasn't ready to leave her yet.

She had been bummed about him leaving last night that come this morning having him here with her made her feel all giddy and anyway she could keep spending time with Wade she was going to take it. Thursday night she wasn't expecting to have built such a strong bond with him in just a few days, but she had and she didn't want him to leave. There was no way she could stop him, they didn't live in the same world as each other. That didn't make seeing him go any easier.

"Are you excited to get back home?" Zoe asked, picking at her eggs.

"Heck yes, I had fun here the past few days, but I'm ready to get home and get back to work. As much as I try to do my own thing and not worry about my Pops, I can't help but worry something is wrong with him." In a way Zoe admired that about him. He didn't want to care about his father, but he couldn't help but care for him. She was still trying to be the daughter her own father would be proud of. Wade he just didn't care what his dad thought of him, he set out and did his own thing. She had to wonder where her life would be if it wasn't for trying to make her father proud of her and that she could be just like him. She couldn't even find it in herself to be mad at Wade for being excited to go back home. They had shared something special in the last three days and now it was time to see if that something special was strong enough to last them miles apart. She wanted to think that it would. "What's on your mind?" Wade asked, seeing just how deep in thought she really was.

"Just wondering if we'll be able to stay friends after today and for how long," Zoe told him, placing her fork on her plate.

"We'll make it. We have emails and phones; technology is totally on our side here. I'll be back to the city here for more gigs in the upcoming months, and you did plan on coming down to Bluebell for a visit. This isn't the end, Zoe. Okay?" Wade assured her. He had the same fears as she had about them not lasting after today, but he didn't want to think about the negative, he wanted to focus on the positive. It was going to be hard to keep his friendship with Zoe but he was willing to do just that. She wasn't a person he wanted to let go. "Are you willing to fight for this friendship, Zoe?" He asked, nervous on what her answer was going to be.

"Yes. My friendship with you Wade has been the most real friendship I've ever had in my life," she told him honestly, letting him breath again. She couldn't remember a single one of her friends having as much fun doing nothing as she did with Wade. With Wade it wasn't about the clubs or what people thought, it was just them being themselves and enjoying who they are and what's around them. Nothing was better than that.

"See that right there is why this thing between us will last Zoe. I'm willing to fight along side of ya." Zoe smiled at him and went back to eating. "I do have one question for ya though," Wade said, making Zoe stop mid bite, she arched an eyebrow looking at him, waiting to see what kind of question he had for her. "How soon can I get you to leave this city for a visit?"

"Now that depends on my meeting today," Zoe told him. "The way you've described Bluebell makes me want to visit and run for the hills all at the same time. It's just the matter of finding the right time to come, Wade and honestly I'm not sure when that is going to be." The little town seemed to be cute and different from anywhere else she's ever visited, but the gossip and everyone knowing your business, she wasn't so sure about that part. She needed to have her very own privacy, letting certain people in on things.

"I'm sorry for making ya miss that meeting on Friday, I do hope that everything works out for ya," he told her with a smile.

"Thanks Wade and it's not your fault, because you had no idea. It's all mine and no matter the outcome I have to take that responsibility on." It was her screw up and there was no way she was going to let Wade take any kind of blame for her missing Friday. It was all on her, good or bad, this was her mess to get out of.

"Oh I'm sure if I would have known about it, I would have been able to make you play hooky," he winked, finishing his food off. Zoe laughed, knowing just how true that statement was, but she also knew that he wouldn't have let her miss it.

With the bill paid they hugged one last time and went their separate ways. Zoe was finding it hard to fight the tears. After leaving Zoe, Wade was glum and moody. Neither one of them had thought that going their separate ways was going to be this hard. They had just met days prior and in retro speck hardly knew each other, but they did know each other, they had spilled secrets that no one else knows. Talked about what they had gone through losing a parent even though it was different. They had yet to build such a strong bond with anyone else that has come into their lives. That had to mean something, didn't it?

"Where the hell were you?" Meatball asked the second Wade had come into the room. Wade ignored his friend, grabbing clothes and headed to the shower. He was in no mood to deal with Meatball, his thoughts were on Zoe and how she was fairing in her meeting. He really did want things to go good for her. But a small part of him wanted things to go bad for her so she could come to Bluebell with him; he really wanted to show her his town. It was hard not to fall in love with Bluebell; the people well you got use to them.

"Dude, you're my boy and all, but I was doing it doesn't concern you," Wade was saying walking from the bathroom. "You and the guys had your fun and I had mine and it didn't involve finding bars and getting shit faced. I was able to enjoy my time and see the city, with company I enjoyed being around," he finished telling his friend, going around the room to make sure he had everything packed away.

"Oh no you don't, Wade. You ditched us, I've barely seen you and on top of it all you forgot about a gig, the reason why we're here in the first place. This has nothing to do with us having a few beers at night, this has to do with you and getting in too deep over a chick you ain't gonna see again," Meatball explained, his voice growing softer as he spoke.

"That's the thing Meatball, you just don't know her or what happened and you wouldn't understand," Wade sighed, falling on the bed. There was no way he could make his friend understand this crazy connection he shared with Zoe because at times he didn't understand it.

"Should I remind you of your ex?" Meatball asked with a pointed look directed at Wade, placing his bags by the door.

"Zoe is nothing like my ex and you don't need to bring her up again," Wade hissed, pushing himself up off the bed. Grabbing his bags he headed out the door to check them out. He couldn't believe the nerve of his friend, sometimes he had to wonder why he was friends with him in the first place. It wasn't until he got to the front desk a text came through making him smile putting him in a good mood for his flight home.

 **Turns out I'm on probation.**


	8. Chapter 8

_**If you haven't went back and reread the last chapter after I had changed the beginning around, I highly recommend you do that before reading this chapter. If you have enjoy this chapter.**_

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Getting to Bluebell Wade headed straight to his old childhood home to check on his father, walking into the house the smell of stale alcohol assaulted his nose. With a heavy sigh Wade trekked forth through the filth that littered the once perfect hardwood floors. Climbing the stairs, the very ones that he would jump down with a sheet tied around his little neck as a cape, Wade made his way past his old childhood room, pausing briefly running his fingers over the closed door, a flood of memories washed over him. Dropping his hand he moved forward, not even glancing at his brother's old room. In all the times that he's been here, he's never once made it further than the living room. Slowly he pushed his father's door open. Frowning he looked at the empty bed in the room. Sighing he made his way back outside into the much needed fresh air.

"Wade, my boy," Earl said walking up to his son. "What are you doing here?"

"I came home today, thought I'd come see you," Wade responded, looking his father over. From what he could tell his father was sober, his eyes were normal size and his breath didn't reek of alcohol. It was a miracle whatever the reason may be for his dad to not be drunk or even drinking this late in the day.

"I'm not some charity case for you Wade," Earl stated offended by his son's actions. "You don't need to come and check on me," he hissed.

"I know that, but I wanted to see my father, I didn't think anything was wrong with that," he defended himself. He should have known better, he has been dealing with his father since he was a kid. He didn't need an ulterior motive to visit, not like his father thought.

"Then come on in and we'll catch up." There was no way he was going to go back in there and subjecting himself to inhale the stench that filled the house yet again.

"Why don't we hit up the Rammer Jammer?" He suggested, taking a step closer to his truck. "I still have to check in with work."

"I've got things to do around here, I don't have time to go into town," Earl dismissed him, walking inside his house.

Wade watched him go, with a small shake of his head Wade climbed into his truck and drove off. He'd come back and deal with his dad at a later date in time when he actually had more time to deal with him. Though he was pleasantly surprised that he had yet to pick up a can of beer or any liquor for that matter, maybe his dad was trying to changing, but he wasn't going to hold his breath about the man changing his ways, him going a day or two without any alcohol was a common occurrence every year.

"I didn't know you were back today, I thought you weren't getting in until tomorrow," George said, when Wade joined him at his table. George gathered his papers and put them in the folder for the case he was going over.

"An extra day in New York," Wade smiled, thinking about Zoe. "Would have been nice," he said dreamily. "Or not," he said, thinking about that extra time. He would have been left on his own while Zoe worked at the hospital.

"Met someone did ya?" George chuckled. Who he met and what he did while he was away in the city wasn't any of George's business and he really didn't want to share Zoe with Tucker. He was always good at stealing away the girls he liked, that was until AB came along, and the Golden boy was taking off the market and Wade was the hottest guy in town.

"Hey Wade," Cindy said, biting her lip, her fingers caressing his bicep. "Wanna do something tonight?" She asked all flirty. He knew what that was and at one point he would have taken her up on the offer, like all the other times he has but she was suddenly too fake for his liking and it didn't feel right.

"Can't," he replied, never looking up at her.

"How about tomorrow night then?" She asked, batting her eye lashes.

"It's not that I can't, Cindy, it's more that I don't want too," Wade told her stealing a small glance at her, as stalked off. "What's all this about, Tucker?" Wade asked, grapping a sheet of paper. He didn't want to be rude to Cindy, but she wasn't taking his little hint and he had better things to do with his life then to entertain her. "A wedding to do list?" He questioned, cocking an eyebrow. "You finally grow the balls to ask her to marry ya," he chuckled.

"Shut up," George hissed, stealing the paper back. "And yes I asked her Saturday night, if you must know," he stated with a goofy grin on his face. "Whoever you met in the city must be really special for you to turn down Cindy, you never turn her down," George smirked.

"It's a new day my friend, and she's very special, like you wouldn't believe," he sighed.

"A feel a but coming on here," George said.

"Hey guys," Lavon greeted, pulling a seat up to join them. "What's going on?"

"Wade's having lady trouble," George smirked.

"You sick?" Lavon asked an amused smile on his face.

"No, I'm not sick, it's just that she lives all the way in New York and I live here, all we can ever be is friends, so drop it," Wade huffed, pushing himself away from the table and stalking to the back room, done listening to his friends rag on him about Zoe. They just didn't understand the situation at hand.

"Did you get a name?" Lavon asked trying not to laugh at his friend, but it couldn't be helped.

"No," George said, collecting his things. "Once you do, you'll have to fill me in on what the whole story is."

"Will do," Lavon stated, getting up and moving to the bar waiting for Wade to come back out.

"Just drop it Lavon," Wade told him, getting to work.

"I wasn't going to say anything expect if you wanna talk about it, you know where to find me," Lavon told him, getting up and walking out.

Wade sighed to himself, it was going to be a long day and the ones to follow weren't going to be any easier on him either. He didn't think it was wrong of him to keep Zoe to himself, he wanted his friends to know about her, he didn't want her to think that he was just her dirty little secret or some BS like that, that wasn't the case, he was just afraid that telling them about her would jinx the friendship.

After many stares and slaps to the face for turning down the woman he normally hooks up with he was able to head home with one thing on his mind. He wanted to know how Zoe's day was. The fact that it was closing in on midnight didn't even faze him until Zoe had answered her phone. "I didn't wake ya did I?" Wade asked a hint of remorse in his voice.

"No, I just barely walked through the door," Zoe answered, plopping down on her couch, toeing her shoes off before propping her feet on the coffee table. She was happy to see that Wade was calling her. She had been crazy busy at work that she didn't get a chance to think about Wade, after leaving work she was starting to wonder if he had made it home safe. "So you made it home then?"

"Yeah I did," he replied grabbing a beer from his fridge and sitting on the couch.

"That's good, anything change while you were away?" She asked.

"Yeah I learned my best friend got engaged over the weekend. Took him long enough to ask the question, they've been together for the last 3 years, it was starting to get sickening," he told her. Zoe smiled, pushing herself further into her couch as she listened to him. "How was work and what does probation mean?" Wade asked. It was one of the things that was bugging him; he wanted her to visit sooner rather than later and with her on probation he didn't know if that was going to be possible.

"I'm just on a tighter leash so to say at work, I'll still be able to visit for at least two days, I have most my weekends off unless I'm told otherwise beforehand. It's just going to be a while before I can actually get down there Wade," she told him. She really wanted to put in all the hard work she could at the hospital and show her boss that her little accident of missing the one day was just that an accident and that it was never going to happen again.


	9. Chapter 9

"Zoe, why can't you tell me what happened between you and mister hottie rock star?" Gigi asked, sitting down in the hospital's cafeteria across from Zoe. It had been a week since Wade left and Zoe was keeping quiet on what she had done with Wade, she didn't want ruin what they had by spreading it all over the city. Her weekend with Wade was special to her; she felt that if she shared her time with Wade then it wouldn't be so special any longer.

"There's nothing to share," Zoe sighed. Ever since Monday afternoon Gigi had been bugging her about Wade and frankly Zoe felt that no one needed to know what happened. She had told her friend that nothing happened, that they had built a bond of friendship and nothing more happened. That was the truth after all. Zoe knew just crazy difficult it would be for them to even consider dating.

"I'm not buying that, Zo. Wanna know why?" It really didn't matter if she wanted to know or not, Gigi was going to tell her and a small part of her wanted to hear the so called logic her friend had. "You spent all weekend with him, ditched your first day of work to be with him. This is more than a friendship. You're dating him." Zoe went to protest but Gigi was there to cut her off. "Think about it," she told Zoe leaving her friend to her thoughts.

Leaning back in the plastic chair she thought about her weekend with Wade. They hung out like friends should, that didn't mean they were dating. People of the opposite sex can hang out without them dating or even falling for each other, but that was the problem wasn't it? She asked herself getting up and leaving the cafeteria. She was falling for Wade and there was no way she could stop herself from doing so. A girl would be lucky to have Wade as their boyfriend, she was aware that he didn't do the whole commitment thing and maybe it was a mistake to let herself fall for him as much as she had, but it was an easy thing to do.

"What's got your head all in the clouds?" Trish asked, approaching Zoe in the hall.

"It's nothing," Zoe dismissed, taking the folder being handed to her. Trish kept her grip firmly on the folder, locking eyes with Zoe.

"It's something and my guess is that it has to do with a guy." Zoe raised an eyebrow on how well her friend was able to read her. She had become friends with Trish just a month ago through the hospital. "Your Mom is gone and you never talk about your Dad, you're an only child so that only leaves this whole thing to be a guy," she quickly explained.

"It's complicated. We're friends and we live in two different worlds and I don't ever see our worlds becoming one. My life is here in the city and his is in a small town in Alabama, it wouldn't work, we'd both only end up with broken hearts in the end," Zoe sighed as she explained things the best she could.

"How do you know that the city is your life if you haven't tried to live elsewhere?" Trish asked, walking off. Zoe rolled her eyes and walked in the direction that she was needed to be in. Never being away from the city for more than just a few days at a time she didn't know if the city was her life, but it felt like it and the fast pace was her. She enjoyed slowing down and having fun with Wade but that wasn't who she was. The best thing for her to do was to push her feelings for Wade to the back of her mind.

"That's a pretty nasty cut you got there Mr." Zoe had to look down at the folder in her hands for a name. Seeing that name in black print staring back at her, threw her off of her game. "Kinsella." She was able to keep her professionalism up. Though she was dying to ask him a million questions, the most important one was if he happened to Wade's brother.

"You can call me Jesse, Doctor Hart," he told her with a dazzling smile, a smile that instantly made her think of Wade. There was no questions about if he was related to Wade, she just wasn't sure how. He never said what his brother's name was, just that he had one that split the second he turned 18.

"Okay, Jesse," she smiled, getting what she needed to clean his cut for the stitches he was going to be getting. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Signs kinda pop outta no where around this city," he laughed feeling stupid for what he was about ready to say. "Ran straight into one, cut myself, as you can see." Zoe giggled lightly as she finished cleaning the cut.

"Don't tell me it was hospital sign or worse yet a stop sign," she replied, tossing the bloody garbage away.

"Ya know I can't recall what kind of sign it was," he stated, furrowing his brow trying to remember.

"Maybe we should check and see if you happened to have a concussion," Zoe thought out loud, getting what she needed to check him over fully.

"A pretty doctor like yourself can do whatever you want to me and I won't be complaining," he smirked in the same fashion that Wade would. She didn't find his comment flattering at all, she found it kinda degrading, and she could list off the things she would say if Wade was the one saying them. Mentally shaking the thoughts from her mind, she got busy to finish with Jesse.

Turns out he didn't have a concussion after all and he ended up with 6 stitches above his left eye. She gave him a smile on her way out, ready to finish with the rest of her patients. Between Gigi, Trish and Jesse she wanted to get home and really think about things. And maybe get a hold of Wade and ask him about Jesse since she couldn't ask Jesse any questions on the matter, she had to stay a professional with him.

Turns out helping people ends up going by in a blur. On Zoe's way home she stopped at a little deli around the corner from her place. Waiting for her food she pulled her phone out scrolling down to Wade's name to send him a text. _I meet someone interesting today._ She typed out, locking her phone and sliding it back in her purse. Getting her food she headed home.

She laughed getting situated at her table hearing her cell going off. Without even looking to see who it was, because she knew who was calling her, she answered, "I thought you had to work tonight?"

"I am working, Princess, it's just kinda slow," Wade chuckled. Over the last week they had sent more texts than anything to each other and he was tired of reading the things she was telling him, so he made the choice to call her and he wanted to hear all about the person she had meet today with her actually telling him in her voice. "So this person you were talking about," Wade said getting to the point. He smiled hearing her laugh on the other end.

"This brother of yours, what's his name?" Zoe asked, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Why?" Wade asked slowly. "I thought we were going to talk about this person you met today not my brother, so stop trying to change the subject," Wade told her playfully, but on the inside, he was kinda dreading telling Zoe about his brother over the phone or even in person. It was a sore topic for him.

"I'm not changing the topic," Zoe huffed out, picking at the crust. Maybe bring his brother up wasn't such a good idea after all. Maybe she should have said who the person was in her text so that way he knew what he was walking into when he called her. As much as she wanted to say never mind and change the topic she knew that Wade wouldn't let that fly so she had to move forth and tell him. "The interesting person I met today was Jesse Kinsella. Of course he didn't say that he knew you not that he would know that I knew you or that I told him that I knew you, it was very professional as he was my patient, I just figured that he had to be your brother, he's too young to be anything else, I suppose he could be an uncle, but that's not it, is it?" She finally asked after her rambling.

"No that's not it," he sighed into the phone. "He's my brother. Zoe I have to go," Wade told her hanging up not giving her a chance to say anything.

With a shaky breath Zoe placed her phone on the table next to her, willing the tears to stay at bay. It was a simple question and she wasn't expecting him to be like that, on the topic of his brother.


	10. Chapter 10

Over the next few days Zoe found herself constantly looking at her phone every time she had a break or she wasn't at work, she wanted to hear from Wade. She was afraid that if she called him that he wouldn't answer her calls or return her texts. But enough was enough, she had a day off and there was no way that she was going to keep her mind from Wade all day long so she picked her phone up and called him. Just like she had expected her call went to voicemail. "Wade, I'm sorry for upsetting you, please just call me back," she sighed into the phone. "Please Wade," she begged ending her message. She knew he would know that it was her that left the message for him and that he would know her voice if he listened to her message. Walking into the kitchen she placed her phone down on the counter and started to work on making herself some coffee, her number one staple in staying awake over the past few days.

Wade saved the message, and tossed his phone onto the counter in front of him. Lavon looked up from the morning paper. He said nothing watching his friend give his phone a death glare. "Why don't you just call her back?" Lavon questioned, folding the paper up and placing it off to the side. Wade had told him a little bit about Zoe but not everything. He knew what this whole fight was about it was mostly a fight Wade was having with himself.

"I don't know what I could possibly say to her," Wade commented not once removing his gaze from his phone. He had promised himself that if Zoe called him that he would answer her call and the one time that she called him, he sat and listened to his phone ring, her name staring back at him intently. His thumb hovered over the screen ready to answer at any second; he just couldn't bring himself to do such a thing. Seeing that she left him a message he played it the second he could. His heart cracked hearing how defeated and sad she was over him being such a jackass about the topic of his brother. The brother he hadn't seen since he took off when they were younger, the brother he hadn't heard from in years, and the brother that use to be his best friend, the very same brother that had ditched him. Out of all the people in New York he wasn't expecting Zoe to run into Jesse and he had to wonder what his brother was doing in the city of all places.

"You could start out saying that you're a huge asshole and let her know that it wasn't her, that it was truly your BS," Lavon stated, breaking him from his thoughts on his brother. "Fix things with her before you lose her Wade. And with the look in your eyes whenever she calls or you talk about her, she's more than a friend to you and she's defiantly someone special to you and I, Lavon Hayes won't take part in you being to chicken shit to fix what you broke," Lavon told him, reaching for Wade's cell phone.

"What do you think you are doing?" Wade asked, trying to steal his phone back from his friend.

"Doing the same thing that you should have done the second you hung up on her," Lavon smirked, hitting send on the one missed call he had, learning that her name was Zoe.

"Wade," Zoe whispered into the phone, closing her eyes, waiting to hear his voice, expect that wasn't the voice she heard.

"Uh, no," Lavon informed her and he swore he could hear her heart breaking over the phone. "I'm Lavon Hayes, Mayor of Bluebell and Wade's friend," he explained to her.

"Lavon Hayes?" Zoe questioned, seeming to brighten up at the mention of his name. "Former Linebacker for the Crimson Tide, Lavon Hayes, The Lavon Hayes that won not one but two Super Bowls and selected to five Pro Bowls being robbed of the Pro Bowl in 06, Lavon Hayes?" He asked, earning a chuckle from the man on the other end of the line.

"The very one," he beamed, with a soft chuckle.

"How did you end up the mayor of Bluebell? Maybe Wade was right about me liking the town after all," she smiled, leaning back on the couch. She was nervous when she saw that Wade was calling her, disappointed cursed through her when she found out that she wasn't talking to Wade, excitement shined out of her hearing that Lavon Hayes was calling her.

"Its home and I enjoy being the Mayor of our little town down here, which I have to agree with Wade on, you would adore this town," he replied, watching the jealousy play over his friends face. "Wade has told me very little about you, so Zoe Hart other than being a Doctor, a fan of 'Sippin' Whisky' and a fan of Football and major fan of Lavon Hayes, what is it that you like?" He asked, holding back his laughter as Wade jerked the phone away from his ear.

"You don't have to answer that Zoe, you already gave the Mayor a big head and it's not even noon yet," Wade grumbled into the phone, shooting Lavon a look.

"Wade?" Zoe asked, her voice catching in her throat. He sounded much like she figured he would, he was tired and anger was the emotion that came out the most, though she could hear the relief in his voice that he was talking to her again.

"Zoe," he sighed, walking outside, he wanted to have privacy for what he was about to say to her. He didn't need his friend rubbing it back in his face. She waited, letting him have the time he needed to say whatever it was that was on the tip of his tongue. "I'm sorry that I hung up on you and that I haven't been in touch with you, but Jesse is a huge sore topic for me."

"Okay," Zoe replied. She would forget ever mentioning anything about Jesse. Upsetting him wasn't worth it. "How is your morning so far? The past few days?" Zoe asked, pulling her feet up under herself, happy to be talking to Wade again.

"Horrible at best," he commented, sitting on his porch a smile in place. "Shouldn't you be at work?" He questioned. "Shit, I should let you go, huh?" He asked dreading that he had to hang up with Zoe after things had gotten better between them. Her soft giggles did nothing to reassure him.

"I actually have today off," she informed him. Wade smiled and relaxed ready to enjoy countless hours talking to her and catching up on everything that they hadn't had a chance to talk about because he was being stupid.

"Good," Wade replied, leaning back in his chair, stretching his feet out in front of him. "How have you been?"


	11. Chapter 11

"You seem to be in a better mood," Gigi stated, instantly seeing the smile on her friends face. "Did you happen to make up with lover boy?" She teased, getting a cup of coffee. Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Things are good with Wade," she stated, "I told you he's not my lover boy," she scowled, sipping at her hot coffee.

"Don't give me that. If you lived in the same state as him, you'd find a way for it work out, you'd be all over him, the only thing stopping you is the distance. You're scared because you know just how close you can get to him and the fact that he has woman wanting him where ever he goes." Maybe Gigi made a point, maybe if they did live in the state she'd have thought about making a relationship with Wade work out, but the distance between them was a hard hurtle to get over, especially when they lived very different lives. Yeah woman tossed themselves at him, she wasn't blind she knew just how good looking he was. "I'm saying that if you really like him and you trust him whole heartedly, that you need to trust yourself to know that whatever way things go with Wade, they'll work themselves out, sometimes it's that little jump, Zo. I just don't want to see you missing out on something that could be good for you," Gigi stated, taking her coffee and heading off.

Zoe slumped back in her chair, pulling her phone out. Her thumb hovered over Wade's name in her phone, debating with herself if she should call him or send him a text, but she wasn't really certain if she wanted to come off as crazy and ask him a bunch of questions on them when she didn't know where he stood on it all. Putting her phone away she headed home. It was early Friday morning and she had the day off, she had a nice little weekend to look forward to not needing to be back to work until Tuesday morning. She had things that needed to be done that she had been too exhausted to do during the week from the hospital.

Her errands quickly turned into some shopping when she passed a store and saw a cute top in the window, when she walked out of the shop she was loaded with bags and she had no idea where she was going to wear most of the clothes that she had even bought. Setting the bags on her bed, she dug out her phone that was ringing in her pocket. She frowned seeing the unknown number flash across the screen.

"Hello?" She asked sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Zoe, I really hope you don't mind, but I had to get your number from Wade without him knowing anything about it, so it would be wonderful if you didn't mention this call to him." She smiled hearing Lavon's voice come through the phone.

"I won't mention it as long as you tell me why you needed my number to begin with," she told him, curious to know why Lavon Hayes was calling her for a second time in just a few short days.

"Other than we want to know who you are, because the town is a buzz on who's been keeping Wade in line and having him refusing to sleep with every single female that lays eyes on him, you've changed him and I personally want to see this power you hold over him," he chuckled. Zoe bit her lip letting herself think for a moment that Wade did feel the same way about her as she felt about him. "And he would really love it if you were here at his party tomorrow night."

"Party?" She asked, walking to her closest to dig her suitcase out. She had a free weekend with nothing better to do, Wade kept telling her that she would like Bluebell along with Lavon and now she was getting that chance on going to see him and his town, to find out just how much she would like this town when she left. It would be a nice little vacation and she would be able to talk to Wade about all the questions that were running through her head earlier in the day.

"We're planning a party for his birthday tomorrow night and I thought it would be good to invite you down to our little town, you get to see Wade and you get to experience Bluebell it's a win for all of us, if you think about it," Lavon told her, hoping that she would say yes. That he could surprise his friend with the one thing he's wanted since he returned from New York.

"I'll be there as soon as I can get there, I'll text you the info and you can meet me at the airport, but Lavon you do know that you're not going to be able to keep me hid from Wade until his party right?" She questioned, tossing clothes that were suitable for a weekend in Bluebell on her bed to pack later.

"Oh yes I can," he smirked. "He's spending the day out on the lake with George, he'll only be back long enough to change thinking George is taking him out to a bar a few towns over but really they're going to end up at my house. I have it all sorted out, Zoe, don't you worry about that, you just need to show up. Send the info and I'll be there to greet you, you won't be able to miss me," he laughed. Zoe smiled, promising to let him know when her flight would be in when she knew. Hanging up from Lavon she called the airport and quickly bought a ticket to Mobile, Alabama. With the flight info she sent Lavon a text, adding him into her phone. She quickly finished packing so she wouldn't miss her flight that was in a few hours.

Looking out of her window at the runway, she was trying to remember the last time that she had taken a weekend away for herself and she was coming up empty. When she was little she would spend her summers with her mom all over the country, the nanny staying with her, but this was so different from that. She was doing this for herself and she really missed Wade, talking and texting just wasn't the same as seeing him in person, so she couldn't wait to surprise him tomorrow night. She was going to make sure that Lavon knew that she wasn't going to be jumping out of a cake either.

"So we meet again." That voice she would know from anywhere. And this time he wasn't a patient so if she wanted a bunch of info on Wade and what went on between the two of them, she was free to ask Jesse those question. Though she found herself pushing those thoughts away, it wouldn't be fair to Wade if she went behind his back like that. She had no other choice but to act like she didn't know his little brother, or that she was going to surprise said brother.

"Hi," Zoe smiled up at him to be polite. Being stuck sitting next to your friend/the guy you finally realized you have feelings for older brother for a flight to Alabama wasn't really ideal it was going to make the flight seem extra long. "Headed home?" She asked, trying to make polite conversation.

"Not at first. Going to see my family," he shrugged. "It's my little brother's birthday tomorrow and I wanna surprise him, ya know?" He asked. She really didn't know how to answer that question, so she didn't. The sudden urge to get off the airplane not wanting to deal with the tension that was going to be there, but she also wanted to stay because she had a feeling that Wade was going to need her after Jesse shook things up. "I want to make amends with him; I was a terrible brother to him. I tried to catch him in New York, but that hadn't worked out," he sighed. Zoe was starting to freak out, wondering if Jesse had spotted her with his brother. There was no way that she was going to tell Jesse anything about Wade that was a line that she couldn't cross.

"Sorry that didn't pan out for you," Zoe told him, glancing down at her lap.

"It's my own fault. Got the dates mixed up." She let a breath out she didn't even know she was holding. "Are you going to visit family or something?" She shook her head.

"Just a friend," she told him, fastening her seatbelt.

After that conversation didn't happen. Zoe sat in her own world, ready to see Wade once again, ready to fully admit her feelings for him and trying to figure out a way for things to work out between them. It was weird to think just how much she trusted Wade with what little time she had actually spent with him, but she was ready for whatever this weekend had to offer her.

She smiled at Jesse who let her get off before him. She took her time waiting for her luggage, giving Jesse enough time to make an escape before she started her search for Lavon. She could only wait for so long and when she spotted Lavon, Jesse was walking away from him. Seeing the worry written on her face, she started to have a bad feeling about this weekend, especially tomorrow night.

Taking a deep breath she walked up to Lavon a smile on her face. "I'm Zoe," she told him, holding her hand out. Lavon shook her hand. "And I will not be jumping out of a cake or anything remotely close to that," she informed him. He chuckled, taking one of her suitcases.

"I'm Lavon, and I wasn't expecting that from you." Clearing that up they had fallen into a very easy conversation like they had been friends for a long time. The drive to Bluebell was short and what she had seen so far she found the little town to be rather cute. "I'd really love to show ya the town but it's getting late and we don't want to ruin the surprise for Wade," Lavon informed her, pulling up to the carriage house. "Here's the deal, it's not much but it's better than having the whole town on ya and I figured you'd like to have your privacy. Just be careful as you share a fuse box with Wade at the gate house," he pointed, through the woods. "My place is that way and Burt Reynolds is around here somewhere so watch out for him."

"Burt Reynolds?" She asked, looking around.

"My pet alligator, harmless thing really," Lavon told her, helping her bring her luggage in. "Come to the main house for breakfast in the morning, Wade will be gone before the sun has a chance to rise."

"Got it," Zoe told him, placing her suitcase's by the little bed that was in the room. "I'll see you tomorrow then," she told him, starting to get settled in for the night. Lavon nodded and headed out to his car.

Lavon had been right about it not being much but it was cute and it was place she had to herself without running into anyone and gossip getting back to Wade. She really did want to run over to his place knowing just how close she was going to be to him, to say hey, but she didn't want to ruin Lavon's surprise either. She was here until Monday afternoon; she could wait a little bit longer before seeing Wade.


	12. Chapter 12

Wade made his way home in a very glum mood, you see he tried to get a hold of Zoe but he got her answering machine when he called her land line and when he tried her cell it went straight to voicemail and he really just wanted to talk to her before he went to bed considering that he wasn't going to be anywhere with a signal to talk to her tomorrow, though he could always sneak off during his party at some point, he didn't want to her to think that he was blowing her off. Ever since returning to Bluebell he had stayed away from the old him, finding it easy to be this new Wade that he had found that he liked to be when he was around Zoe. He wasn't even going to deny that he really liked Zoe more than a friend, he needed her to see that they could work out and that they needed to let things fall as they may. No need to stress over the future they couldn't control.

Just thinking back on the time he spent with Zoe made a smile cross his lips, he felt something different for her, he felt lust for a lot of the women he had hooked up with, thought he was in love once, but that had turned out to be a huge disaster and that love turned out to be hate, because he couldn't stand his ex and he was more than relieved that was in the past a few years back and he hadn't seen her since. He could feel his anger building up inside of him at just the thought of her. Sitting on his porch, he scrolled down to Zoe's name to send her text.

 _'Night Princess, busy day tomorrow, sorry.'_ He sent, placing his phone on the table next to him, a hand running down his face. He frowned seeing the lights were on at the carriage house. Lavon hadn't told him about anyone staying over there, he was curious to know who was over there and he had every intention to be the good neighbor he should be and go over there, but before he could get off his porch the lights across the pond went off. Shaking his head he walked inside his place, grabbing a beer and his guitar, he needed to figure out a few new songs.

Wade woke up to a deep laughter, pushing his guitar off to the side he got up, glaring at his friend going to the bathroom to get ready for his day out on the lake. Tossing a shirt over his head walking from the bathroom, he made sure he had what he needed, steeping into his boots, ushering his friend out the door.

"Rough night?" George asked, driving out to the lake.

"What makes you think that?" Wade asked, bringing his foot up on the dash to lace his boot up and tie it, repeating the movement with his other foot.

"Guitar on your lap, beer on the coffee table," he pointed out. Wade shot him a look.

"Dude, you're like a girl needing gossip to survive," he mumbled with a slight chuckle. "Just trying to figure out a few new songs." There was no way that he was going to say that he was just trying to bid his time to see if Zoe was going to text him back. And glancing at his phone he saw that she hadn't, he couldn't figure out what he had done to make her mad at him, the last he knew they were on good terms. He knew that she had a crazy busy schedule with work but he also remembered her telling him that she's got the weekend off. It was still early yet and maybe she's catching up on all the sleep she's missed out on over the week. He didn't even want to think that she could be out on a date with some doctor.

"And you're glued to your damn phone, when did that happen?" George questioned, he of course knew the answer to that one, he's seen Wade since he's came back from New York, his friend had changed before them and it was in the good way, like he was trying to prove to everyone and to a certain New York Doctor that he could be the guy she could fall for, but he wasn't going to say any of that and deal with the repercussions that were to come with being stuck on the lake with him. After all it was just his own observation.

"Just shut up and get us to the lake," Wade snapped, shoving his phone into his pocket. Wade wasn't stupid he knew how most the town watched him, like he was the one that had grown an extra head or something. It was time for him to grow up and that had nothing to do with Zoe, he did want to settle down and have his own family and this was the first step in that and he wasn't even going to think about the failed relationship that would have led there, because that was due to alcohol making him think hate was really love and that they would be perfect together. Forget that. "How are things with AB?" He asked, getting the heat off of him.

"You see," George started to say parking the truck. Wade softly groaned afraid of the next few words that were going to come from his friend's mouth. "We're trying to figure out when we want to have our engagement party…" he trailed off hoping that Wade got what he was hinting at.

"And you want to know when the best weekend is for Zoe so you can invite her because you guys just have to meet her, right?" He grumbled, getting out of the truck, using a little more force to shut the door behind him. Going to the back of the truck he pulled the cooler out.

"It's not just that, Wade," George sighed, grabbing the poles and tackle box from the bed of the truck.

"Then what is it?" Wade yelled, turning to face his friend. "Your need to embarrass me or some stupid shit like that?"

"No," George huffed, placing the things in the boat. Wade sat the cooler down, standing up to look at his friend, waiting to hear what else he was going to say. "We want to make sure that she's good for you, is that so wrong?" George asked, untying the boat from the dock.

"No," Wade sighed, losing the fight in him. "I get it, I guess, but the thing is Zoe is good for me, I'm not so sure if I'm that good for her," he explained, the one thing that had been on his mind that he's been overlooking since the very first night he spent with Zoe.

"Don't be like that man; of course you're good enough for her. She even knows that if she's willing to be friends with you, Wade. She must have a good head on her shoulders," George stated.

"Yeah well are we going to stand around and talk about our damn feelings or are we going to go catch some damn fish?" Wade asked, jumping into the boat. He couldn't even ask one damn question without it getting turned on him and Zoe. George gave the boat a push and jumped in pushing the boat out far enough for them to start the motor up. "I'll talk to her about it," he answered. Just the idea of being able to have her come down for a weekend getaway was exciting, he had watched how her face lit up at the idea of her showing him around New York and he wanted to be able to repay the favor and he wasn't kidding about her liking Bluebell. What wasn't there to like? Other than the townsfolk that had to be in your business but they only cared about you in their own little way, so really even that wasn't so bad.

"Just hurry up about it, AB isn't very happy that she has to hold off on picking a date for the engagement party because I want to make sure that you're able to get Zoe down here as your date," George smiled.

"Don't tell me you're going to do the same for the wedding?" Wade smirked, steering the boat to the right spot, miles from shore.

"No, you'll just have plenty of time to invite her as your date that she'll be able to get the time off from work no questions asked," George replied. Wade shook his head a smile on his lips as he thought about Zoe being there with him as his date. Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he cut the motor and tossed the anchor over.

"Just fish," Wade responded, getting his pole set up and his line in the water, as he sat back and relaxed waiting for the first bite.

* * *

After breakfast Zoe had showered and put on shorts and tank top helping Lavon get things set up for the party. Lavon had left her alone for a few hours going into the town to get the things that he needed, feeling bad for leaving Zoe alone, but she assured him that she was okay with that and she just wanted to help in anyway that she could.

Lavon had offered to show Zoe around Bluebell, but she had politely declined saying that she was waiting for Wade, because it had been an unspoken rule that when she made the trip to Bluebell that he would be the one to show her around and she wasn't going to take that away from him. Lavon only laughed, and handed her things that needed to be put up for the party that was going to be on in a few more hours.

"Guests and the birthday boy are going to be here shortly. Thanks for all your help Zoe, but I can do the final touches if you want to head back to the carriage house and get ready for the night." Zoe nodded and headed out, looking forward to being able to see Wade in just a few short minutes.

She laid a purple dress out on the bed before she took a shower. She had yet to wear to the dress; she had bought it just minutes before Lavon had called her. Finishing with her hair which she left down and her make up that she left to very minimal, she headed out the door, surprised to see that in the short time she was gone that most of the town had showed up. She was able to sneak in and get a drink before she was stopped by a very pretty blonde and an equal pretty brunette.

"Hi," Zoe smiled up at them.

"Hello, I'm Annabeth and this is Lemon, you are?" AB asked, holding her hand out to Zoe.

"Zoe," she smiled shaking AB's hand.

"Don't tell me that you're like stalking Wade or something," Lemon grimaced. "Because trust me you don't have to go that low."

"I'm not stalking Wade," Zoe replied laughter dying on her lips seeing Jesse walking up to them.

"Ya know Doctor we have to stop meeting like this," Jesse smiled. Zoe rolled her eyes.

"We are not meeting like anything, just happen to be in the same place at the same time," Zoe replied downing her drink. Lemon and AB shared quizzical looks before they walked off. They had heard very little about Zoe just what Lavon had been willing to tell George who turned around and told AB who had to gossip about it with Lemon.

"Ouch that actually hurt," Jesse replied with a small frown, covering his heart. Zoe rolled her eyes at him, she went to walk around him to get another drink but he stepped in front of her. "Mind telling me how you know any of these people?"

"You see that's none of your business Jesse, other than what you told me on the flight here I don't know you and you know nothing about me," she told him, successfully walking around him.

* * *

Wade sighed as they stopped at George's place so he could get ready for going out tonight. Wade had never really made a big deal about his birthday and he wasn't going to start now. With George ready to go they headed back to the gate house so that Wade could wash the smell of fish off of himself. He had glanced at his phone while he had been waiting for George and he felt anger, disappointment and sorrow when he noticed that he had yet to hear back from Zoe. He roughly tossed his phone onto the table in his place, he wasn't going to be bringing his phone with him, he was going to let her wonder where he was when he didn't return any of her texts or calls and see how well she liked it.

"You hear about anyone coming down and staying at the carriage house?" Wade asked, seeing that once again the lights were on. George looked across the pawn out the window. He shrugged.

"Lavon didn't mention anything, maybe he's doing something over there or something," George suggested he really had no idea what was going on. Wade didn't want to agree with that, because he watched last night and he didn't see anyone leave when the lights flicked off last night. But he would deal with that later, right now he had plans on going out and getting totally wasted.

"Why are we going to Lavon's for?" Wade asked the second George drove up to Lavon's house. He could easily see that Lavon was having some kind of a party and tonight of all nights he wanted nothing to do with the gathering taking place inside the mayor's place.

"I need to ask him a quick question, won't take long," he informed him. Wade nodded, getting out of the truck. He leaned against the side looking at the people that were mulling around. He could see Tom and Wanda laughing and flirting off in the distant. He watched as a short brunette one that looked oddly familiar storm out of the house, turning to bitch some guy out. Upon a closer look he could see that the guy was his brother. Frowning he stalked over to the couple. The last thing he really wanted to do was deal with his brother sober.

"What the hell are you doing here Jesse?" Wade snapped, not even bothering to look at the short brunette that reminded him of a certain New Yorker.

"I came here to make peace with my brother," Jesse snapped right back.

"Damn it Jesse, you can't expect to waltz right back into my life, not after you decided that this town and your family wasn't worth it. You were my best friend and you left, not even caring enough that you were leaving me behind with no explanation that you were taking off, just woke up one morning and you were nowhere to be seen, in fact this is the first time I've seen your sorry excuse of an ass of a brother since that night nearly ten years ago now. So what in the Sam hell makes you think that I want to make peace with you?" Wade asked, his anger rising with every word he spoke.

"Shit, Wade. I was messed up and I didn't know what else to do. It wasn't because I didn't care about you or that I didn't love you, I left because I did. I needed to be better then what this town could offer me; I didn't want to be Dad, spending years mourning over our Mother. I did what I had to do and if I would have taken the time to tell you to say goodbye I wouldn't have left and hell that may have been easier and I may not have screwed this family up anymore than it all ready is, but I wasn't going to stay and let myself drowned because of it, so hell Wade, I'm sorry for being a crappy brother to you over the years, but I just want a chance to make it up to you, be the brothers we once were," Jesse asked, his voice raising and lower as he made his speech.

"I don't know if that's possible Jesse," Wade sighed feeling defeated. "I don't know," he repeated, looking down, a hand going through his hair.

"I get it," Jesse responded. "I'll let you have a few days to think it over, I'll be in touch in a few days before I leave," Jesse told him softly, walking off.

"You okay Wade?" Zoe asked, witnessing the whole ordeal. She wanted to walk away and not be a witness to what had went down, but she couldn't walk away from Wade.

"Zoe?" Wade questioned, shock and happiness replacing the anger he felt for his brother hearing her voice and seeing her standing next to him, her hand on his arm. "What are you doing here?"

"Lavon," Zoe told him simply. "He informed that he was throwing a party for you, thought I should come down and surprise you," she explained further, smiling up at him. Wade sighed a sigh of relief, pulling Zoe in for hug. He couldn't believe that she was actually here for him and it was one hell of a surprise, had to be the best birthday present that he had ever gotten. Those reason for her not answering or replying back to him, they were good ones as long as he got to hold her in his arms. "Happy Birthday, Wade," she whispered in his ear. He grinned, placing a soft kiss to her temple, he was ready to show Bluebell who Zoe Hart was and enjoy his night with Zoe right next to him, there was no way that he was letting her go to far without him, not after missing her the second he had left New York. They had plenty of time to talk about them tomorrow.


	13. Chapter 13

"Oh do tell me that this is Zoe and not some harlot," Dash stated, walking up to the two of them that had been in their own little world. He wouldn't say that he was using Zoe to distract himself from the fight he just had with his brother, because that wasn't the case at all. Zoe was just good at keeping his anger away and making him happy. So no he wasn't using her for his own personal pleasure, he liked being around her, wished they could be something more; he was going to work on that tomorrow. "You were doing so good about not sleeping with random woman, I hate for you to ruin that now, you can't prove to anyone how good and trustworthy you can be," Dash tacked on, acting like a disappointed uncle. Zoe stood next to him hiding the smile on how proud she was of Wade and that maybe things would be able to work out between them.

"Dash meet the lovely Zoe," Wade announced keeping Dash from saying anything more. "Princess meet Dash." Her cheeks turned a slight pink color; it never failed when he called her princess.

"The same Dash that just so happens to write Dash's blog?" Zoe questioned with a slight smirk, seeing the look cross Dash's face.

"Why yes it is, the one and only," Dash told her excitedly, going off on all the latest gossip that he had yet to post. Wade leaned down to whisper into her ear.

"You just had to do that didn't you?" His lips lightly grazing the shell of her ear, "you just asked for it." Zoe giggled, letting Dash lead her way to show her off to the townspeople. Wade leaned back against the counter, watching Zoe with a smile on his face. It was written on her face, she loved the whole small town thing. It might not be that hard to convince her that Bluebell is the place to be.

"She's truly something else, a true spitfire, she's like Harley in that way," Lavon stated, standing next to him. "I can see why you have taken a liking to her, Wade. She's good for you and I can see that you're good for her." Wade snorted.

"How do you know that I'm good for her?" He questioned, watching Tom fall over Zoe. "What does Harley have to do with anything?"

"She just reminds me of him is all," Lavon shrugged. "Because she's happy like on cloud nine happy. She told me about always worrying about work before you came along Wade. You are good for her, trust Lavon Hayes on that one," he said, nudging him. "You might want to go get your girl," he chuckled, watching as Tom kept getting closer. They really thought things were going to get awkward when Wanda walked up to Zoe and Tom. Wade wasn't all that shocked when they started to talk like they were all old friends.

"Yeah," he replied shaking his head looking down. He wanted to be good for her and maybe he had been so far, but he came from a messed up family not that she had the perfect family either, maybe there was some truth behind the words Lavon was saying. "Thanks for all of this. The party and Zoe," he told his friend, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You're welcome man," Lavon told him, walking off as George walked up.

Zoe stood sharing stories with Tom and Wanda. She was having fun; she would glance over at Wade and send him a smile from time to time. "Are you two?" Zoe asked, looking between Tom and Wanda.

"Oh no," Tom stated, his cheek flush.

"That's us asking if you and Wade are together," Wanda replied. Zoe bit the inside of her cheek. She could see that they both had feelings for each other just the way they looked at each other. She had to wonder if it was that easy for people to see how she felt for Wade.

"Oh," she replied, looking around the party. Her eyes settled on AB. The girl in question sent Zoe a friendly smile when Lemon wasn't looking. She really was wondering what was going on there. It really seemed off and strange to her. Pushing those thoughts away, she'd figure it out later. She looked over to see that Wade was getting upset by something that George was telling him. She had a feeling on exactly what that was. She knew she was going to have some damage control to deal with. She excused herself and made her way to where Wade was standing.

"Do you really love New York that much, Dr. Hart?" Zoe stopped in her tracks to turn to see who was talking to her. "Dr. Brick Breeland," he told her, sticking his hand out for her to shake, which she did.

"I really do love New York. Why?" Zoe asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Just stop by the practice before you leave," he stated, heading off. Zoe watched him go confused on what he was playing at. Just like the thing with AB she had to push things with Brick Breeland to the back of her mind.

Wade stood looking at George, waiting for him to say something. "Ya know when you first showed up and in this New York/Zoe bubble, I didn't know what had gone over you. Why it took you to go all the way to New York to find someone," George told him, handing him a beer. "I didn't get it then, but I get it now," he stated.

"She's something else, isn't she?" He asked, his eyes following her around the room as she laughed meeting each new person, giving them hugs like they've been friends forever, while she was on her way back to him.

"Oh she is," George replied going to walk off. Wade put his hand on his shoulder getting his friend to stop. He wanted to know what George was talking about.

"What's that mean?" Wade questioned his voice low. George let a low chuckle out of his throat, glancing over his shoulder.

"It means that I had happened to meet her when I was staying in New York a few months back," George replied, walking off. Wade watched him go, downing his beer in one go. What the hell was going on? Why didn't either one tell him about this? Did they have something go on that even AB didn't know about?

"Hey," her voice was soft and sweet and it pulled Wade from the questions that he was asking himself that he had no answers for.

"Hey," he told her gruffly. She frowned up at him. "Are you enjoying yourself?" His voice was just as rough. She bit her lip studying him.

"Yes," she finally answered him, thinking about what Dr. Breeland wanted with her, she found it weird and oddly strange. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Why didn't you tell me that you know Golden boy Tucker?" He hissed under his breath. The frown never left her face as she cocked her head to the side. "Don't act like you don't know who I'm talking about because he knows you," he explained, glancing to where George and AB were laughing it up. Zoe followed his gaze and she let a small smile escape.

"Are you jealous, Wade Kinsella?" She questioned with an amused smile on her lips.

"No," he seethed, walking out the door, jamming his hands into his pants pockets. Lightly rolling her eyes, she followed behind him.

"I didn't know that George was from here or that he was your friend. We used the same gym and there was this restaurant called Per Se that we both adored. He was only there for two months, we were becoming friends but he never told me about Bluebell, and even though she doesn't act like it, which I can't figure out why, I had met AB a couple of times when she would come up and visit George. Nothing was going on; I was in my own relationship at the time. I'm guessing that he figured things out on his own. I don't know what else to tell you because that's the truth and if you want any more answers you'll have to talk to George," she explained, moving to stand in front of him.

"Nothin' was going on with you guys?" He asked, looking up to meet her gaze. The sickening feeling that he had in his stomach had eased away hearing Zoe explain things. Hearing that they were barely even friends had relief wash over him. He couldn't and wouldn't be second best to Tucker anymore than he already was.

"Not a single thing, Wade. Now is the jealousy monster put away?" She teased, her eyes lightening up with laughter. He grumbled, reaching out to tickle her. Zoe squirmed under his fingers, her laughter ringing out over the music that could be heard from behind them. Wade was laughing, letting his fingers still on her sides. She smiled up at him, falling into his embrace.

Without thinking he closed the gap between them, his lips on hers, strong emotions of want and need passing between them both. The kiss became more urgent. Zoe's fingers played with the hair on the nape of his neck, Wade's fingers digging into her hips as he pulled her closer to him, deepening the kiss. Breaking the kiss for much needed oxygen his lips were on her neck and shoulder pushing the strap of her dress out of his way.

"Wade," she whispered, pulling his head away from her skin. He cupped her face, lightly kissing her nose and lips, letting his forehead rest against hers.

"Zoe, please," he begged in a whisper, closing his eyes. "Tell me what it is that you want."

Her mind going from the party to the man holding her, it wasn't a very hard choice to make, closing her eyes, she whispered, "you."


	14. Chapter 14

Zoe woke up pressed against Wade's side. She smiled snuggling closer to him, as memories from last night flooded her mind, causing her cheeks to burn. Feeling her move Wade pulled her closer yet, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. "Mornin' princess," he mumbled against her head, he was having a hard time trying to keep the smile off of his face.

"Morning to you too," she smiled, pressing a kiss to his bare chest. "Know any places that serve amazing breakfast around here?" She asked avoiding looking at him until the color drained from her cheeks.

"A few," Wade told her. "In order to go we have to get up and get ready."

"Do we have to?" She protested, tightening her grip on his midsection.

"I'll meet you over at the carriage house," he chuckled, finishing what he was going to say.

"Ya know I should bring my things over here, it's not like I'm gonna be at the carriage house that often," she mussed, sitting up slightly to look at him. Wade chuckled, pulling her down for a kiss.

"We'll get on that later," he informed her. Zoe smiled sitting up holding the sheet against her chest. With a smirk Wade tossed Zoe her clothes, as he got out of bed. He knew they were going to need to have a long chat about what happened last night and he just wasn't referring to the best sex of his life either. But today he just wanted to show her what Bluebell had to offer.

"Okay," she replied her cheeks turning red as the events from last night played through her mind, once again as her eyes fixed on his taut stomach. Wade chuckled, kissing her before he disappeared into the bathroom for a shower. With her clothes on she headed out with her shoes in her hand as she walked the dirt path from the gate house to the carriage house. A long talk needed to happen because she needed to know where they stood. She wanted to know right away to get everything in the open and over with so they could enjoy the rest of the time they did have together, because she didn't want this to be hanging over them.

Last night had been wonderful and perfect and there wasn't anything she would change about it, but that didn't mean that she was going to pack up and move to Bluebell. She was confident that they could make things work out. Gigi did have a point they were acting like a couple so nothing was really going to change in that aspect for them.

"Someone looks extra cute all lost in thought," Wade smiled, wrapping his arms around Zoe from behind, their eyes locking in the mirror.

"Just trying to figure out what we are, what you want," Zoe told him, resting her hands on top of his arms, leaning back against him. He had a feeling that Zoe wasn't going to be like him and just wait to have this talk. He was ready for it though; he just preferred to hold off on having it.

"A serious talk before breakfast then, huh?" He joked, spinning Zoe around, his hands resting on her hips. "I want you Zoe and everything that comes along with that long distance and all. I want to be your boyfriend, if you'll have me that is. Last night wasn't a one time thing. I really like you." Zoe smiled kissing his cheek.

"I want that too," she told him.

"What to be my boyfriend?" He joked. "I think that might be a little hard considering." Zoe lightly smacked his arm. "I don't swing that way," he smirked watching her roll her eyes.

"I really like you Wade and I want to be your girlfriend. I know this isn't going to be easy but we've managed just fine so far," she replied, ignoring his comments from before.

"Yes we have," he agreed capturing her lips with his own. "Can we go eat now?" He asked against her lips.

"Not yet," Zoe told him. "I need you to know that I didn't sleep with you for any other reason than it just felt right," she was having a lot of trouble trying to describe how she felt. "You make me feel safe and I trust you and last night was sweet and amazing and I've never felt like that. No one has ever made me feel like you made me feel last night. So loved and cared for and so perfect."

With a smile on his face he pulled Zoe down on his lap. "It's easy to be like that with you because I do care about you, maybe one day love, but we'll never know if we don't try," he told her. There is nothing more that he's ever wanted than for things to work with Zoe.

"And we are, Wade," she reminded him, stroking his jaw line.

"Last night was different for me too. You're not like the others. It meant a lot to me that you trusted me enough. You need to know that I can change and you're worth changing for. This is what I want, Zo," he explained really hoping that she understood what he was saying. She was so much more than just a random hook up and him changing that part of himself was because of him needing to show Zoe that he can be the man she needs in her life.

"I trust you but you need to trust me as well otherwise this won't work out."

"I trust you, princess," he stated, pulling her down for a kiss. "Can we go eat now?" He asked against her lips. Placing one final kiss to his swollen lips she got up taking his hand in hers pulling him out the door.

The small trip to the Rammer Jammer was filled with small touches and soft laughter. They had walked so Zoe could really get to see the town and she did have to agree Bluebell was a very pretty place.

"Zoe I'm advising you not to get the grits," Wade grimaced knowing how that was going to play out.

"But I want to experience everything the south has to offer," she argued back.

"Tell ya what you can try some of mine and if you like 'em I'll order you some, deal?" Wade asked.

"Oh alright," she reluctantly caved.

After their order had been placed Wade turned to Zoe, "what time Monday do ya have to leave?" He asked, pulling her hand into his lap.

"My flight is at 3. Can we not talk about me leaving? We have 2 full days to enjoy before then and I want to enjoy my time off and my time away with you."

"Okay. So what do you have in mind?" Wade asked.

"I don't know what do you do around here for fun?" She asked, smiling at Wanda as she brought out their food. "Thanks Wanda."

"You're most welcome Zoe. You guys need anything just holler," Wanda told them.

"Or maybe I'll just get it," Wade smirked.

"Be my guest, just leave me your tip," Wanda winked, walking off to tend the other tables.

Wade held out a small spoonful of grits for Zoe to try. She made a disgusted face, spitting it out in her napkin. Wade tried so hard not to laugh at her, but a small chuckle escaped. "It is not funny," Zoe huffed taking a long drink from her water.

"Oh but it is," Wade countered. Zoe went to respond when George and AB sat down with them.

"I may have said a few things outta line last, so for that I am sorry. I just never guessed that when you said your mystery girl was named Zoe that it was the same Zoe I knew, New York is filled with people," George explained.

"Dude it's good, you helped speed things up for us," Wade stated sending a wink Zoe's way, getting her to blush. "I just gotta wonder why AB had to act like a snob around Zoe."

"Wade," Zoe warned. She really didn't want to have this out in such a public place. She had planned on talking to AB in private later on.

"No, Zo," he said looking at Annabeth. "Why? Is she not good enough?"

"No," AB sighed. "I can't explain why I acted like that; I have no excuse for my behavior. I'm sorry." It really did just slip out to be like that. She didn't mean for it to seem like she was writing Zoe off, she liked Zoe. She messed up but she was only human and she is sorry for her actions.

"It's alright. Just don't do it again, please."

"I won't," AB smiled.

After apologies were accepted AB and George left them to it. They ate their breakfast in relative silence. Most the townspeople leaving them be, no one wanted to pop the bubble they had created for themselves.

"So fun things," Zoe prodded him when they were done eating.

"I can name a few things we can do," he winked, coloring Zoe's cheeks a light pink color.

"Besides that!" She exclaimed, hitting his arm softly.

"Alright come on," he prompted, holding his hand out for her.

"Where are you taking me?" She questioned, slipping her hand into his.

"It's for me to know and for you to find out," he quipped at her heading into the sunlight. Zoe pouted getting Wade to chuckle, pulling her into his side. "You'll like it," he told her. "Trust me." Zoe nodded her head, her eyes catching sight of the practice. She was curious to know what Dr. Breeland wanted with her. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind for now, she was going to enjoy her time and deal with whatever the town doctor wanted before she left town.

"So this place," Zoe started to say.

"Zoe," Wade nearly growled at her. Zoe giggled, kissing his shoulder. She trusted him.


	15. Chapter 15

"Wade, where are we going?" Zoe asked, pulling him to a stop. "We've walked around Bluebell in a circle over 5 times now. If you're tying to make me dizzy it's not working," she stated a smile tugging on the corners of her lips.

"I'm just trying to make sure that you get a really good look at the town," he remarked with a slight smirk on his face.

"You have nothing planned do you?" Zoe asked, holding back her grin.

"Not really. I want you to like the town I really do, but look around," he sighed, "that's about as much as you get for fun," he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I highly doubt that you would like any of things that I do for fun," he stated. He didn't think that she would be interested in the Belles like Lemon and AB had been growing up.

"Try me," Zoe told him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "I'll try anything once," she told him hoping those words weren't about ready to come back and bite her.

"Then follow me," he stated, pulling her along behind him. "And I'm still not telling you where we're going," he stated, pulling her through a trail in the woods. Not that she really had a choice in staying behind. She moved closer to him, being cautious of where she stepped.

"Murder is the only thing running through my mind right now," Zoe informed him, earning herself a chuckle.

"You really need to relax. I'm not going to murder you, this isn't that fancy city of yours," he smirked, looking back over his shoulder at her. "We may not have a lot of those fancy places you like so much…"

"Like stores," Zoe said cutting him off.

"Yeah like those, but we have something better," he stated, falling quiet. Zoe waited for him to say more but he failed to do so.

"Like?" She asked, after the silence got the best of her.

"You'll see," he replied. Sighing to herself she followed behind him, wanting to ask a bunch of questions but the birds started to sing overhead and the sun poked through the trees and the air was fresh and not filled with smug and everything around her was beautiful. She sat down among the sunflowers hearing the buzz of bees. Wade sat next to her, flinging his arm around her. "There's a small creek through the trees," Wade told her pointing to their right. "But I figured you'd like this. Give you the chance to really slow down and relax and enjoy nature."

"I could get use to this, all of this," she smiled, dropping her head onto his shoulder. The concrete jungle that was New York was breathtaking in its own way, but this was just breathtaking all together, with its natural beauty.

"Me too," he whispered.

They sat in silence watching the clouds move across the sky. They had gone from just sitting to laying down a mix of limbs, Wade's heartbeat a steady beat in her ear. With the sun pounding down on them Zoe was starting to get hot. "So this creek?" She questioned, sitting up to look at him better.

"Not that far at all," he smirked, getting up. He helped Zoe up and led her through the small trail that led to a creek. Wade had quickly dressed down to his boxers jumping into the cool water. "You coming in or what?" He called back, wiping the water from his face.

"Are we trespassing?" She asked, looking around the thought just now coming to mind. She couldn't be caught breaking the law.

"You're cute with your face all scrunched up like that," Wade chuckled from his spot in the water. "But no we're not trespassing," he assured her.

"Does that mean that anyone can just come walking by here and catch us?" She asked, chewing her lip.

"Catch us doing what Zoe?" He asked, watching as her face turned a dark red color. "And no they can't just walk through here. It's private property." She looked at him worried.

"You said we weren't trespassing," she stated looking around nervous once more.

"We're not, it belongs to my family," he stated getting her to relax.

"Oh great nothing like getting busted by your Father," she retorted, dragging a hand through her hair. It was bad enough that they had been busted her mom doing nothing more than sleeping when they were friends. It was hard to say what was going to happen the second she jumped into the water and they weren't going to be able to keep their hands off of each other with barely any clothes on.

"It wasn't a picnic getting busted by your Mom either," he retorted. "But seriously Zoe he doesn't come out here anymore, it's going to be fine," he assured her. He was pretty positive that his dad was more than likely passed out on the couch still from the night before.

She believed Wade and she needed to start living in the now and even if he did come out here they would be protected by the water and they weren't some kids that could get into trouble for being together. She slowly stripped her shirt and shorts off, her shoes lying by her clothes. She jumped into the water, Wade right there to dunk her under. She jumped on his back when she reemerged from the water.

Their time in the water was filled with soft touches, kisses and a lot of goofing off and having fun. Zoe had laughed more times in the span of a few hours in the creek than she could remember laughing on any given day before she had ever met Wade.

Later that night after they had showered and her things had been moved over to Wade's, they sat around the Rammer Jammer eating dinner. He had been busy while Zoe was in the shower making plans for tomorrow. Monday he was just going to just sit around and enjoy the last few hours he had with Zoe at his place. But he really didn't think that Zoe would want to go out fishing or go up to the hunting cabin and hunt whatever animal was in season, he knew without a doubt that Zoe wasn't into any of that and he was okay with that. He didn't want to have every thing in common with her.

"What can you tell me about Brick?" Zoe asked, swallowing her bite of chicken. She had watched the man in question enter the bar and her thoughts on what it was he wanted were starting to take over her mind.

"He's a good man. His wife left him with Lemon and Magnolia years ago. He does what's best for him, his family and this town," Wade answered. "Why do you ask?"

"At your party, he stopped me. I've never met him but he knew who I was and that he wanted to talk to me and that I should stop in at the practice," she responded. "I just don't know if I want to."

"I think you should. Heck I'm curious to as what he would want with you. I can go with you," Wade offered. Zoe shook her head.

"I think it's one of those things that I should do myself, if I decide to go and if I do go it'll be on Monday before I leave," Zoe answered. She was determined to enjoy her time with Wade and the rest of the town and if she actually decided to go and see Brick. She keeps playing the scenario over in her head and at times she tells herself that she isn't going to go and other times it bothers her way too much and she needs to know what it was he wants. But she didn't want whatever it was he had to say to dampen her mood. "What's the agenda for tomorrow?" Zoe asked, changing the topic.

"Zoe just know that whatever he has to say, that you can talk to me about it, okay?" Wade asked. Zoe nodded her head, giving him a smile. "Just some fun in Fairhope and maybe some romance as well," Wade told her without giving anything away. Zoe stuck her bottom lip out wanting him to tell her more. "That's all you're getting, babe," he smirked, leaning over to softly kiss her lips.

"Break it up love birds. I was wondering why I couldn't find ya after I had talked to ya before George found ya, now I know why you ditched the rest of your party for. I really thought something bad happened to Zoe," Lavon chuckled, joining the couple. This was the first time since last night that he had seen either one of them.

"Something bad did happen, him," Zoe stated a smile on her face, pointing at Wade.

"Keep it up Zo and something bad will happen to ya and you'll be stuck here forever," Wade winked. Zoe giggled looking down. That might not be such a bad thing. She liked Bluebell and it had perks that New York couldn't offer her.

"Would that really be such a bad thing?" Zoe asked innocently enough. Even though the idea of staying was very appealing to her she needed to go home, where her life was at.

"For now yeah it would be," Wade told her, running his thumb along her knuckles. He didn't mean that in a bad way, it just wasn't the right time for her to just move to Bluebell for him, her moving had to be for her and he knew that she wasn't ready to leave the city behind yet. Zoe nodded; understanding the way he meant that. "Did ya need something Lavon?" Wade asked, turning to look at his friend.

"Uh," Lavon said trying to remember what it was he wanted when he sat down. "I don't remember," he told them. "But as mayor of this fine little town, how are you enjoying yourself, Zoe?" He asked.

"I love it here," she responded with a wide smile. "It's the perfect little town," she gushed. Lavon chuckled, getting up.

"Since my job is done here I'll leave the two of you to it. Zoe I'm pleased to hear that you like the town so much," he said walking off.

"Is there going to be a survey with my things that I need to take before I'm allowed leave?" Zoe joked, turning back to Wade.

"More than likely," Wade told her dead serious. "He needs to know what needs to be fixed and what's working," he added on. Zoe giggled shaking her head and dug back into her food, ready to enjoy the rest of her night with Wade.

* * *

 _ **On a side note, I know you all are wondering about what Brick has to say and what he wants. It will be coming up in a couple of chapters. As for the questions about Harley and Zoe those will be answered shortly as well.**_


	16. Chapter 16

Zoe was woken in the early hours of the morning hearing Wade playing something on his guitar. She smiled, wrapping the sheet around herself. She padded her way over to Wade. Sitting on the edge of the chair, she let her hand play in his hair as he finished playing the chords.

"That was beautiful, is it new?" Zoe asked, softly.

"Yeah, just a little something that stuck and I had to write it down and play it," he replied sheepishly.

"I'm looking forward to hearing the whole thing when you finish it."

"You'll be the first to hear it," he promised, setting his guitar to the side. "Let's get you back to bed," he suggested.

"I'll hold you to that. But I'm not tired," she stated suggestively.

"I have just the cure," he smirked, backing her up to the bed.

"Oh yeah?" She giggled, pulling him down with her.

"Mm-hmm," he mumbled against her neck, his teeth lightly grazing her flesh.

With the sun high in the sky Wade and Zoe managed to emerge from bed, both of them wearing matching smiles. He had made sure she brought everything she would need to change into for a nice dinner before they came back to Bluebell. Zoe didn't ask questions knowing that Wade wasn't going to tell her anyway. She watched the landscape pass her by.

"Care to explain why we are at Oak Hollow Farm?" She questioned, turning to look at her boyfriend.

"To ride the horses," he remarked. Zoe held a smile of nervousness and excitement. Living in a busy city meant she never had the chance to ride a horse. It was something that never crossed her mind either.

"I've never done that before," she told him, chewing her lip, her nerves starting to get the best of her.

"I haven't either," he confessed, taking her hand in his free one. He could sense her nerves. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to. I just thought that it would be fun doing something neither one of us has done before," he explained, finding a spot to park.

"No Wade, I want to do this with you," she assured him. It was a fun idea that he had and she wanted to go through with it, but the very thought of getting on the horse frightened her. She didn't want to get bucked off or even kicked by the beautiful creature.

"You sure?" He questioned, he didn't want to make her do something that she really didn't want to do.

"Yep, now let's go," she stated, dropping his hand and getting out of the car. Wade met her at the back of the car, tossing his arm over her shoulder.

It had taken a while for Zoe to get the hang of riding the horse, Wade had it mastered in just a matter of minutes, but he wasn't freaking out like Zoe had been. After she had been on the horse for a few minutes she started to relax and the horse she was on stopped being so jumpy. At a lazy speed they rode the horses through the wonderful trails, enjoying every aspect of nature that was around them. They had fallen into an easy conversation.

"I broke my arm but it wasn't anything like that," Zoe laughed, leaning into Wade. They had stopped giving the horse's a break as they munched on the grass.

"We all can't be cool and be superhero's," Wade mocked with a soft chuckle. He had just finished telling Zoe the time him and Jesse used bed sheets as capes and ran around their backyard as superheroes. Jesse had dared him to jump from the porch but Wade being Wade he went to the roof and jumped off breaking his leg. "How'd you break your arm?" Wade asked playing with a strand of her hair.

"Fell off a swing at the park, landed wrong," she told him.

"You weren't even pretending to be anything cool?" He asked in a teasing tone.

"No," she laughed, shoving him gently. "It was a rare day that I was with both my parents, I was just so blissfully happy."

"You don't talk much about your Dad," he commented looking at her.

"What's there to say?" Zoe asked, tensing up next to him. "I love him and he just took off leaving me behind. He never called me back, doesn't answer when I call him, and he doesn't respond to my emails. After a while I just gave up," Zoe responded with a shrug. She learned over time that it was just a waste trying to get a hold of him and she was going to prove to him that she could be just as good as him if not better than he was. "Is it my turn to ask you a question now?" She asked, playing with a blade of grass.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Don't get mad at me, Wade. But talking about my Dad is tough for me, but we need to talk about these things and you had no problem telling me the story you did about Jesse, so I was just wondering…" she trailed off.

"If I'd tell you what happened?" He guessed with a heavy sigh. Talking about the good times with Jesse was so much easier than reliving the bad ones.

"Yeah, I'm curious to know what went wrong," she told him.

"I told you he left me," Wade replied getting snippy with her.

"But that doesn't tell me what really happened. We can forget that I ever said anything," she sighed angrily moving away from him.

"No it's alright," he replied moving closer to her. "It's just something that I don't like to talk about, he hurt me by just walking away and the feelings are still really raw for me," he explained. Zoe nodded but didn't say anything. "It was a few years after my Mom died…"

 _"Jesse you can't do this," Wade pleaded, watching his older brother walk around his bedroom collecting what he needed to pack away in his suitcases._

 _"I can't stay here, Wade," Jesse sighed, turning to look at his brother. "There's nothing here for me."_

 _"What about me, huh?" Wade asked, jumping from the bed. "Am I nothing to you?" Wade asked his hurt overtaking the anger that had been simmering on top._

 _"You're everything to me, Wade. That's why I have to go while I still can. What can I say to make you understand that I can't stay here?"_

 _"Can't you take me with you?" Wade asked with pleading eyes._

 _"Schools out in what a few more weeks?" Jesse asked, sitting on the edge of the bed._

 _"12 days to be exact," Wade replied._

 _"Tell ya what; you can come with for the summer but Wade you'll have to come back for school. You still have a few years left and I won't let you just drop out of high school. You have so many things going for you."_

 _"But," Wade protested._

 _"Take it or leave it Wade," Jesse told him with finality in his voice._

 _"Fine," Wade huffed getting up and stalking to his own room._

 _Over the next two weeks everything seemed to be fine between brothers. Wade had 2 days left of school and his bags had been packed for days waiting to leave with his brother. It was just the two of them most days their dad too drunk to join them for dinner or even ask them how their day had been. After the last couple of years it was something that they had grown use to, not that you should have but it was just common for them and life went on in the only way they knew how. They were taking care of themselves. Jesse had done a fine job in taking care of Wade when he was too young to do it himself. And it had seemed like they were closer than ever._

 _For Wade the last two days of school had dragged by but the day he had been waiting for was finally here. He ran straight home from school, ignoring his friends as he went. He rushed into the house, looking for Jesse._

 _"He ain't here," Earl called from the kitchen table, a water sitting in front of him._

 _"What?" Wade asked stopping short of his father. Shocked that he was sober and drinking water at nearly 4 in the afternoon._

 _"Left before ya did this morning," Earl told him. Wade ran up the stairs going straight to Jesse's room to see that his brother's things were gone. Wade slammed the door behind him, going to his own room, pissed off even more when he noticed that his bags were no longer sitting by the door but unpacked for him. His brother had made a promise to him and yet he still just took off without him in the end and this time he didn't even stop to say that he was leaving, to tell him bye or anything. That hurt worst of all._

"Oh Wade," Zoe replied, wrapping her arms around him tightly, seeing the unshed tears in his eyes.

"The thing is I want to forgive him, I really do but my pride and ego is right there keeping me from doing it. I know why he left, it's the same reason I turned to music. He needed his escape and he went out there and found it. I can't be mad at him for that."

"No, but you can be mad at him for leaving without you, for taking the cowards way out and not sitting you down to tell you that he couldn't keep his promise to you, that he was leaving. You have the right to be mad at him Wade, but I believe that it's time for you and him to make amends and live in the future and try to rebuild the bonds that were broken when he took off the way he had," Zoe told him.

"I want to I really do, but I find that I can't get past that. He left me, he hasn't shown any sign of ever wanting to know how I was doing until now," Wade retorted.

"He was in New York to see you," Zoe told him softly licking her lips, taking him off guard.

"How do you know that?" Wade asked turning to look at her.

"I was sitting next to him on the plane. He told me that he was going to make amends with his little brother and that the reason he was in New York was to see you, but he got the dates wrong," she quickly explained. "I would have told you but that would have ruined everything that Lavon had set up for you and I really wasn't expecting him to make a scene at your party, I really honestly thought he would wait until later or thought that we would have found you before hand," she explained to him.

"It's okay, you didn't know. A heads up would've been nice, but that was on Jesse not on you."

"Maybe Lavon too, he was talking to Jesse at the airport, though come to think of it, it seemed like a pretty heated conversation they were having," Zoe replied, not understanding how she could just throw Lavon under the bridge the way she had. "All I can say is talk to Lavon without flying off the handle. This is on Jesse; he should have gone about things differently than he had done so."

"It really doesn't matter, Zo. It's over and done with now," Wade sighed. "We better get back, we still have plans and we can't be late," Wade told her, dropping the conversation about Jesse. Zoe gave him a curious look, as he helped her up.

"Why is that?" Zoe asked.

"Because then they'll give our reservations away," he smirked seeing the awe on her face.

"Wade," she said softly, pulling him to her, softly kissing him.

He was the one to break the kiss and pulled her over to where they had tied the horses in the shade. Wade helped Zoe mount her horse before getting on his own. With what seemed like no time at all they were back at the stables. Using the rest rooms they had changed into more formal attire for their dinner reservations. It took Zoe a few minutes longer fixing her hair and make up.

For Wade to make them reservations at a fancy restaurant wasn't a him thing to do and Zoe loved that he had done such a thing for her, showed her just how thoughtful he was and that she was lucky to have him in her life. He really did keep surprising her.

They were seated right away. Wine poured as they were left to look over their menus. "Wade this was sweet of you but you didn't have to do this," Zoe commented closing her menu, already finding what it was she was going to order.

"I know, but I wanted to do this for you, Zoe. Take you out somewhere special for our first date. I couldn't let you leave without a first date, what kind of boyfriend would that make me?" He asked, placing his menu with Zoe's.

"A good one, either way," she smiled at him. "I don't need these things Wade. I would have been fine for us to have dinner anywhere. I don't want you to think that just because I like the finer things in life, that doesn't mean I need them. I'm still alive after the wonderful few days in Bluebell, the little things are just as important as the rest of them," she rambled on. Wade chuckled, taking her hand in his from across the table.

"I know, but sometimes a boyfriend does things like this for their girlfriend because they really like said girlfriend and want to treat her to a wonderful romantic night out," he told her. Zoe smiled, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks.

Tonight was going to be good night for them.


	17. Chapter 17

Sunday night after their dinner they had went back to the gate house and lay out under the stars, Wade pointing out different constellations, his fingers in her hair the whole time. When Lavon went to check on Burt in the early hours of the morning he came across the sleeping couple. A smile evident on his lips he went in search of a blanket to place over the sleeping couple.

"Mornin' Sleepin' Beauty," Wade whispered in her ear, as the sun was rising in the sky. Zoe pulled his arm over her eyes, wanting to sleep just a little bit longer. Wade chuckled placing his free hand behind his head, as he looked up at the sky watching as a few birds flew over head.

"It's hard to sleep when you're laughing," Zoe told him moving his arm just enough to look up at him. "Morning, did we really sleep outside? And where'd the blanket come from?"

"Yes we slept outside something you can't do in that city of yours, my guess is Lavon," Wade told her.

"Wait, Lavon saw us like this?" She questioned sitting up looking at Wade her eyes wide.

"I'm guessing he did. What's so wrong with that? Thought you wanted to be with me?" He asked going on the defensive. She placed her hands on his arms, sliding them up to his face.

"Nothing is wrong with that, I do want to be with you, Wade, don't think I don't. I just don't like people seeing me anything other than put together," she explained.

"You must really like me then," he smirked, placing his hands over hers. "I've seen you…"

"Don't even finish that sentence," she warned. "I really do," she whispered, softly kissing him.

"Let's go get you washed up, packed up and filled up before you gotta leave," Wade said, standing up pulling Zoe up with him. She nodded, wrapping her arms around one of his and walked with him in silence. She didn't want to leave Bluebell or Wade but then again she really couldn't wait to be back home. Things were going to get harder for them, but she was confident that they would be able to work things out.

They had tried to eat in peace enjoying their last little meal together before Zoe had to fly out, but the town was having none of that. They wouldn't leave the couple alone, all of them coming over to talk to Zoe and tell her how much they had liked her coming down and that they liked her and Wade together and they couldn't wait for her to move to Bluebell. That's when Wade would step in and tell them that Zoe moving to Bluebell wasn't going to happen for at least the next year or even longer, she has her life in New York and he didn't want Zoe to ruin what she had going on. Hearing Wade say those words she would look down and blush. She was happy to hear that Wade was on board with her doing her own thing in New York and not dropping everything to move down to Bluebell to be with him.

"I'm sorry for the crazy town people," Wade told her as they walked out of the Rammer Jammer.

"Don't be, they are what make this town so fun and loving," Zoe countered, slipping her hand into his.

"Maybe so, but they can be a bit nosey."

"They just want the gossip first," Zoe retorted with a soft smile. "Mind waiting out here for me?" Zoe asked as they came to the practice.

"Of course, I'll be right here," he told her motioning to the bench; she nodded and headed inside to find that the place was empty.

"Can I help you dear?" The receptionist asked.

"Is Brick in?" Zoe asked.

"Right through that door, dear." Zoe nodded and walked to the open door, seeing Brick was busy with some paper work. She knocked lightly, her nerves starting to get the best of her.

"Come in, Zoe," Brick told her, setting the papers aside. Zoe walked in closing the door behind her. Hesitantly she sat in front of his desk. "I wasn't sure you were going to come in."

"I wasn't sure I really wanted to either. I came down here to see Wade and spend time with him; I wasn't expecting you to know me. How do you know who I am?" Zoe asked, fidgeting in her seat.

"I know your father, he was very proud of you, talked about you all the time," Brick informed her.

"Ethan Hart?" Zoe asked surprised and confused more so now than ever before. "I didn't know you knew him."

"I don't know him, I'm talking about Harley Wilkes," Brick replied. "Didn't anyone ever tell you?" Zoe shook her head.

"You have to be mistaken. I don't know any Harley's. Ethan is my father," Zoe stated, standing from her seat.

"I had a feeling that you weren't going to believe me," Brick commented getting up. "Follow me," he told her. Zoe chewed her lip debating if she should just turn and walk out now or follow behind Brick. Curiosity got the best of her and she went after Brick. Standing in another office that looked like it hadn't been used for quite some time, were photos of Zoe.

"How?" She asked walking around the office, her fingers tracing photo's from when she was just a baby. "Who else knows?" She asked, stopping at the most recent picture that was in the office that happened to be from her college graduation.

"Your Mom," he answered the first question. "I'm the only one in this town that knows, but you have family and they know about you, but they were told not to contact you," he explained, finding a folder. "But here is everything you need to know," Brick told her.

"Who does the rest of the town think I am?" Zoe asked.

"The few that have seen the pictures were told that you were just a Niece. It took him years before he even told me the truth, he didn't want to ruin what you had going on. But there was more than one time where he went to see you in New York. He was doing what he thought was the right thing by you." Zoe nodded suddenly feeling overwhelmed by it all. This was crazy and she was really going to have to sit down and talk to her mom about this. It did make sense on why Ethan had taken off and refused to contact her.

"Thanks," she told him, walking out.

"You okay?" Wade asked, standing up when Zoe approached him. "You look like you seen a ghost."

"I think I did," Zoe replied.

"What?" Wade asked, puzzled. Zoe shook her head. She needed a few minutes to process what she had been told. It was a lot to take in. Her whole life had been changed in the span of a few minutes. She didn't even know what to think her mind was just numb from learning the truth. It all made to much sense when it came to why Ethan had taken off to be anything but true. There would be no way that a complete stranger in a town she has never heard of had pictures of her.

Gathering the last few things of hers and the ride to the airport was done in complete silence with Zoe wrapped up in her head, watching the world go by her in a blur. Wade was worried Brick had said something hurtful. But he wouldn't know because Zoe wasn't saying anything to him. He was going to confront Brick once he got back to town though.

"Did you know that I have family down here?" Zoe asked. "Of course you didn't know because it was this big secret, even I didn't know. How well did you know Harley Wilkes?" Zoe asked turning to look at Wade in the plastic chairs at the airport.

"He was awesome and one of the best guys around. Why?" Wade asked, confused with her sudden outburst. "Is he part of your family?"

"Father to be exact, according to Brick that is," she sighed. "Ya know the pictures in Harley's office?" Wade nodded.

"They're you aren't they?" He asked with a smirk. "I always told Harley that he had a cute Niece, I just wasn't expecting it to be you, I haven't seen any of those pictures in a long time, totally slipped my mind the night we were going through your pictures."

"How messed up is this?" Zoe asked. "The only Father I ever knew took off on me and when I learn that I have a different Father he tells people expect for Brick and family that I'm just his Niece," Zoe scoffed, leaning back in her chair, closing her eyes, feeling a headache coming on.

"It wasn't that he was embarrassed or anything like that by you. He talked about you to anyone that would listen on how proud he was of you. He wore the biggest smile when he would get a new picture and hear how you were doing. I personally thought it was weird that he would act like that, but now it makes sense he was just being a proud Father. If the truth came out than I'm guessing he was afraid it would get back to you and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin your life."

"That does make sense," she sighed. "But it doesn't make any of this any easier." Wade took her hand in his. No he supposed it didn't make any of it any easier. He wouldn't even know what to make of something like that.

It was hard a good bye between the couple, but they had managed to separate, Wade watching Zoe walk away from him, the true test to their relationship was going to start now. Zoe had waited until they were in the air before she pulled out the folder that Brick had given her. She went through the information of her new family. It was still so surreal for her.


	18. Chapter 18

"Where have you been?" Candice asked in a high pitched voice the second Zoe entered her apartment. She didn't want to have this out with her mom just getting home. She wanted a few more days to think about things before confronting her about why she never told her about Ethan and Harley.

"Out," Zoe replied shortly walking to her room, placing her suitcase's on her bed. She knew that wasn't going to be enough for her mom, but elaborating on where she was just wasn't in her right now while she got her thoughts in order.

"You were out all weekend?" Candice asked following her daughter. "Were you that busy that you couldn't return any of my phone calls?" She asked stopping in the doorway.

"You called?" Zoe asked sarcastically. "Weren't you supposed to come back next weekend?"

"Until I thought the worst had happened to my daughter!" Candice exclaimed.

"So now you care?" Zoe asked harshly.

"I've always cared about you," Candice replied. Zoe rolled her eyes giving her mom a scuff. "What has gotten into you?" Candice asked sternly. Zoe laughed, spinning around to finally look at her mom. She had spent the whole plane ride home going over the events of her weekend, mainly the part where she learned that her mom had been lying to her since forever.

"The truth would be nice," she replied back easily. "Not that you could ever tell me that could you?" She asked, going back to unpacking her bags.

"You've lost it," Candice stated, moving further into the bedroom. "Now where were you?"

"That doesn't matter, Mother. I was away having fun until I learned that my Mother has been lying to me since I was a baby. It makes sense on why Ethan," she was having trouble calling Ethan her dad. "Would just up and leave the way he did. Nothing was keeping him here, especially a woman who only ever told him lies about something really important like the fact his daughter wasn't his to start out with," Zoe stated in a cool voice.

"What are you talking about Zoe? Ethan is your Father," Candice said her voice wavering. "I have no idea what could have ever gave you the impression that he wasn't."

"Bluebell, Alabama. Does that happen to ring a bell?" Zoe asked moving to place her dirty clothes in the hamper.

"Why were you there for?" Candice asked keeping her front up.

"For a friend and you can cut the act, I know all about Harley or should I say my Dad and the family I have there along with the fact you've been keeping him up to date all of my life. So why didn't you tell me the truth, give me the chance to get to know him?" Zoe asked walking from the bedroom to her kitchen needing something to drink.

"It was best the way I had done things," Candice replied following behind her.

"Better for whom?" Zoe asked. "Sure wasn't better for me. I would have loved to know my father, to know that I wasn't just some unwanted problem."

"You were never an unwanted problem, Zoe."

"No you just didn't want me to resent you or even leave you because you knew that I would have grown to love it there."

"Maybe so," Candice replied feeling her resolve slipping away. "But I did what I thought was best for you and the older you got the harder it was to sit you down and tell you the truth. Bluebell is such a small town I didn't think that you would have ever found out about the town or end up there."

"Well I did and it would have been nice if I wouldn't have been blindsided while I was there to enjoy my time with my boyfriend," Zoe quipped back, sitting at the table.

"A boyfriend? What about Nick or even Tom?" Candice screeched.

"Nick spent all his time at the office and when we did have that one date you set up he was still all about work. Even I know when to let work go and have fun. As for Tom," Zoe laughed, shaking her head. "He may come of sweet but he's a jerk. The bottom line I don't care about the money or the power they hold, I like Wade and I'm going to date him and in a year when I'm done with the fellowship I will talk to Wade and together we'll figure things out."

"That is _if_ you're still with him in a year. You have to remember that you're states away and well there's a good possibility that he will stray," Candice told her daughter standing up. "Think about this Zoe."

"I have thought about this long and hard. I know Wade and I know that he wouldn't ever do such a thing, unlike you," Zoe hissed the venom back in her voice.

"Play the victim Zoe," Candice huffed. "When you're ready to talk about this like the adult I know you are, call me," Candice told her walking to the door.

"You should have told me when I was crying night after night because I thought that I wasn't loved by my Dad turns out I was and I didn't get the luxury to know him or just how much he really loved me. You took the only chance I had to build a bond with him. Does that make you happy?" Zoe asked, standing in her living room, arms crossed over her chest.

"No, Zoe it doesn't make me happy…"

"Good," Zoe cut her mom off.

"But I can't change what I did," Candice sighed finishing what she was going to say. Zoe stayed silent not really sure what she could say. She was beyond mad at her mom for keeping this from her, mad at her for telling her that Wade was no good for her. Mad at her that she had so easily lied to her ever since she was a baby. What kind of a mother would do something like that?

"It may have been best for you, but you're a mother and it wasn't about what was best for you but what was best for me," Zoe finally spoke, walking away letting her mother slip out the door. She really just wanted to go curl up in bed and forget about her family drama.

Hearing her phone ringing she really wanted to ignore whoever was calling her but one look at the screen told her that wasn't a possibility. She couldn't ignore him, he hadn't done anything wrong even if he was the one that had her come down there, okay well that was Lavon but it was for Wade and well she didn't blame him for the secret that her mother had tried to keep from her. "I'm sorry," she whispered, answering the call.

"What for?" Wade asked, leaning back on his couch. He had spent a good part of the last hour pacing around his place waiting for Zoe to call him and let him know that she had made it home safely.

"Making you worry," she replied just as soft. "It's just my so called Mother was here and," Zoe sighed, growing quiet.

"She still wasn't being honest with ya," he guessed.

"Not at first. Wade do you think her not telling me was for the best?" Zoe asked, chewing on her lip. She hated that her mom had easily lied to her about this. But maybe she was right in doing so. She quickly pushed those thoughts from her head.

"Denying Harley the right to know you and for you to know him? No I don't think she was doing what was for the best. It takes a sick person to keep the Father of their kid away from them. It's messed up Zo and I'm sorry that you have to go through this. But do you think it was right of her?"

"No," Zoe replied. "Sure it would have been hard on me then but I would have come around and I would have known so many things. I hate that she denied me of knowing not only who Harley was but everyone else in Bluebell."

"You would have hated me back then, I was a jerk. I'm sure you would've been best friends with Lemon. You two would have been swooning over George Tucker together," Wade laughed, thinking to the past they would have had if things would've been different.

"Not true," Zoe remarked seriously.

"Which part?" Wade asked, his nerves coming out.

"All of it," Zoe told him. "Lemon still would've hated me for whatever reason, it's not like I did anything to her to begin with, and I don't even know her. Maybe I would have had a small crush on George but I'm sure I would have hated you…"

"Hey now, you just said that part wasn't true!" He exclaimed in the phone.

Zoe smiled, licking her lips. "I wouldn't have hated you because you were a jerk. I would have hated you because you would have taken my heart and you wouldn't have noticed," she explained softly.

"That's where you're wrong, Zo. I would have been different if you were around," he told her softly.

"Maybe," she told him softly. "How's the song coming along?" She asked changing the topic. She had no reason to bring up what her mom had said about him, she had faith him, she believed him, he had yet to give her a reason not to and until then it was going to be his word over everyone else's words.

"It's uh coming," he told her, looking at the corner where his guitar laid broken. "A small hiccup but eh it's good," tacked on.

Hearing that Zoe laid back on her bed and relaxed as she let Wade take her mind off everything else that had came to light. She knew that at some point she would have to confront her mother to finish their talk from earlier but for now she was going to enjoy talking to her boyfriend.


	19. Chapter 19

"What's wrong with you?" Lavon asked, dropping his spoon at the sight of his friend. He looked like he had been through hell and back again.

"Spent the night trying to work out this part in a song, it sounded off and well now I gotta head into Mobile and buy a new guitar." Lavon eyed his friend feeling like he was keeping something from him.

"Ya know we've been friends for a while now and you're keeping something from me and as mayor of this fine town I'll figure it out," Lavon stated hoping that would get his friend to open up about whatever was eating him up on the inside. It was more than just some song he couldn't get right. He never once heard of Wade wrecking a guitar.

"What are ya gonna hire Frank?" Wade joked, "It ain't nothin' Lavon, just drop it already," he stated heading out. For once he would like his business to stay that his.

"We'll see about that," Lavon mumbled, going back to his breakfast.

He wasn't lying to Lavon it wasn't anything to make a big deal outta. He wasn't. It was the story of his life. He wanted something and he didn't get it. It was nothing to concern anyone with. He didn't even let Zoe know about it because he didn't want his girlfriend to see him as a failure. Life would continue on as it had been. The sting of rejection would slowly wear off and he'd be back to his normal self and until then he could act like nothing was wrong in his life, it would be easy to fool Zoe there not that he liked the fact he had to fool her but there was nothing she could do for him so there was no point to drag her down with him on this. Sure it would have been nice for her to know so he had someone to confide in but he didn't need anyone, he could do this on his own, like he had done for nearly his whole life.

He was looking at the newest guitar that he wanted to buy when his phone started to ring and vibrate within his pocket, placing the beautiful guitar back on the stand he pulled his phone out a smile overtaking his face seeing that it was his girl calling him. Maybe he didn't have to fake being happy when he was talking to her, it just happened naturally.

"Hey baby," he answered. "What aren't you at work?"

"I'm on break, I've been here all night and I still have a few more hours to go before I can go home and sleep before coming back in for the night shift once more," Zoe told him, relaxing back on the sofa that was in the lounge room. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Looking at guitars," he answered, running his fingers over a different one.

"What for? What happened to your old one?" She questioned, placing her feet on the little coffee table.

"The small hiccup last night," he reminded her, rubbing his face.

"That's right you ever going to tell me what that was about?" She asked, rolling her neck trying to work out the knots that were starting to form.

"It wasn't anything to concern ya with. I let my temper get the best of me last night and took it out on my guitar," he shrugged.

"That kinda explains the weird message I got from Lavon. He was asking me if I knew why you were acting all strange and to call him back the second I could, so Wade please tell me what's going on," Zoe pleaded with him.

"It's stupid and I don't even know why I got my hopes up about it to begin with because I knew it wouldn't end up the way I wanted it to go," he started to tell her. Zoe nodded, leaning further back into the sofa. "When we were there in New York doing the gigs it was a trial run for us and I just got word back that it wasn't a fit and they found another band," he finished with a sigh.

"Just keep trying Wade, sometimes you need to get knocked down before you can make it," she told him, glancing at the clock.

"What do you know about getting knocked down, Zoe? You get everything handed to you on a silver platter," he spit out trying to control his anger. Taking this out on her wasn't doing him any favors it was just the first time that he was able to openly talk about this to someone other than Meatball and the guys and it didn't affect him in anyway what so ever. The other guys were bummed about it but they went back to what they were doing. And he couldn't stop thinking about it, because this was what he wanted to do and he was finding it harder to achieve his dream.

"No Wade, I don't get anything handed to me. I've had to work extra hard for everything in my life. I went through damn near ever hospital in the state of New York before I found one that would take that risk on me, so don't tell me I don't know anything about getting knocked down, Wade," she hissed out, getting to her feet. "Call me when you get your anger under control, I didn't do anything to you yet again," she told him hanging up. Making sure her phone was on silent she went back to work ready for work to be over with now more so than before she called her boyfriend.

Wade walked out of the store without a guitar. He was minding his own business trying to find a way to make all of this up to Zoe. He was finding that he was always taking his anger out on her and it wasn't fair to her and he was going to have to control that more now than before or she would leave him. With the way his life was going he was starting to think that was the best option for not only him but for her as well. She didn't need someone that couldn't even make his dreams come true to hold her down while she went on to do great things in this world.

He walked around Fairhope for a good hour before he went into a bar to get something to eat for lunch and a beer. That one beer turned into two and two turned into six and six turned into one more and a shot and within a few hours he was fully drunk.

"How ya doing Casanova?" He looked up from his empty beer bottle. That voice he knew anywhere.

"Stella, Stella, Stella," he smiled, pulling her in for a hug. "I'm pretty much fucked, you?" he asked back trying hard not to slur his words.

"I can see that, we should get you home," she stated.

"I should," he responded. "But you can't come with cause I got a girl," he stammered out.

"Why don't I call you a ride," she was saying reaching into Wade's pocket for his phone.

"If you wanted to take another ride on this, you just had to say so," he smirked, going to stand up but falling right off the stool he was sitting on.

"Why don't you sit down and drink some water sugar," Stella told him signaling for the bartender, stepping outside to call someone to come get him.

"Stella when'd you get here?" He asked when she came back with his phone. "How'd you get my phone? Are you like a magician?" He asked getting really excited. She shook her head. She had every intention to walking over to Wade and hitting on him to see where things would go but now she was regretting that decision dearly. "Zoe baby, don't be like that. I'm umm sorry; I should be sorry, right?" He asked talking into the phone.

"Wade what are you doing?" Stella asked.

"Talking to my girl's voicemail," he replied. "Baby I'm drunk and with Stella and damn it Zoe, you don't deserve me but hell I can't let go now, and baby talk to me," he pleaded.

"Alright sugar, I think that's enough," Stella stated, taking his phone from him and hanging up. "Don't need ya making it worse on yourself." Wade groaned and dropped his head to the cool counter top.

"Should I even ask?" George asked, walking into the bar. Stella shook her head. "Come on buddy let's get you home to sleep this off."

"I don't think Zoe will like that, Tucker."

"I don't think Zoe will like a drunken Wade, either," he retorted helping Wade from the bar.

They weren't even out of Fairhope yet when Wade passed out.


	20. Chapter 20

Zoe woke up to her phone ringing; groggily she picked her phone up, "hello?" She answered with a big yawn, her eyes staying closed to block out the sun. Once she was off the phone from whoever was calling she was going back to sleep.

"I didn't mean to wake ya, baby," Wade said holding his breath hoping for the best. He remembered things from the bar and what he couldn't remember George filled him in on to the extant of what George knew. He remembered Stella but not the words that had been said between them. Looking at his call log he saw that he had called Zoe but couldn't remember talking to her.

"Wade?" Zoe questioned, sitting up in bed, her eyes fluttering open. "Is something wrong?" She asked, noting the hesitation that was in his voice. "Does this have to do with the message you left yesterday? And I'm still mad at you," she informed him, waking up fully.

"The message, did you happen to listen to it?" He asked, holding his breath. He could easily clear up anything that he could have left in the message, depending on what he had drunkenly left her.

"Sadly no, I went to listen to it and somehow I managed to erase the dang thing. Was it important?" She asked, chewing on her lip as Wade let out the breath he was holding.

"Honestly it was a stupid drunken message and I don't even know what I had said in it," he told her deciding to be honest with her.

"Why were you drunk Wade?" She asked starting to feel concerned for him. "What is about you not getting the job out here?" She asked trending carefully around the whole thing.

"Part of it, the other part was for me taking out my anger on you. I went for one drink and hell I couldn't stop until Stella called George to pick me up."

"Stella?" Zoe asked her voice trembling some.

"Nothing happened with her, baby, I swear. I told her upfront that I had you. She just kept me from making a bigger ass of myself," he quickly explained not wanting her to jump to anymore conclusions then she already had.

"I see," Zoe told him quietly.

"I'm sorry for everythin' Zo," he sighed. "I figured it would be best to be honest with ya, that's all we got at this point and I just miss ya," he confessed.

"I miss you too Wade, a lot," Zoe told him a faint smile on her face. "But I'm sorry because a simple sorry can't fix this Wade. I know you're sorry, but I can't let it go, you have to learn that you can't take your anger out on me, take up boxing or something to get your aggression out," she told him.

"I will and I know," Wade told her. "Look I gotta go, gotta get ready for work and all. I'll call you later ok?" He asked.

"I won't be around until tomorrow morning around 9 or so," she informed him.

"Okay, bye baby," he told her.

"Bye Wade," she replied hanging her phone up. Now that she was fully awake she made her way out to the kitchen to make some coffee. Her mother's words about Wade cheating on her coming to mind, she trusted Wade and she believed that nothing happened between him and Stella, she was finding it hard to get over that nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that was telling her otherwise. Sipping her coffee and thinking how things would have been different if he would have gotten the job at the bar she had first met him at, she jumped hearing her phone ringing from in front of her. She frowned not knowing the number. It was a local number that much she knew. "Hello?" She answered hesitantly.

"Zoe Hart," the voice boomed over the line. Knowing that voice she sighed, letting her head fall to rest on her arm against the table.

"What can I do for you Drew?" She asked annoyed.

"I was just on this lovely little site for Bluebell when I happened to stumble across a picture that you might like to see," he told her and she could hear the little smirk that he was wearing in his voice.

"Why are you even on the town website for?" She asked, ignoring the sudden tightening in her chest thinking the picture had something to do with Wade.

"I was trying to learn more about that band, ya know the one, you're awfully chummy with the lead and I wanted to make sure he wasn't just a random loser that was going to use you," he replied faking innocence.

"My mother put you up to this didn't she?" She snapped back with a heavy sigh.

"Just go look at the picture, Zoe. I'm sorry," he said, hanging up.

Aggravated she tossed her phone to the table and found her laptop to look up whatever this picture was of. Seeing a pretty woman with her hand in her boyfriend's pocket she felt the hot tears building in her eyes, forcing the laptop closed, she pushed it aside and sobbed into her hands. He had lied to her earlier, now she knew that long distance was something that wasn't ever going to work for them.

After cleaning her whole house and taking a long relaxing bubble bath, she got ready for work. She tried like heck to get the image of her boyfriend and the other woman from her mind but it just wasn't working. The image was burned into the forefront of her mind. She was going to give him one more chance to come clean to her and then she was going to ask. Maybe she should have read the little article that was attached to the picture but she didn't want to confirm what she had just saw, that was hard enough on her.

Work seemed to drag on, she couldn't muster anything more than a friendly fake smile to her coworkers and to the patients that she dealt with. When they asked what was wrong she told them nothing, she didn't want the gossip around the hospital to be about her and how she couldn't keep a guy interested. The only time that a real smile tried to poke through was once she saw the vase of Bluebell flowers and a little black and white bear holding them. The card attached had her name on it with a small message that read, _'Bluebell misses ya, here's a little reminder. Yours truly, Wade.'_ She was touched that Wade would do something like that for her and for a second she forgot that she was mad at him and that he was the cause of her pain. She pocketed the card and walked out of the room when it came back to her that she was still mad at him.

She managed to get through the rest of her hours at work, exhausted by the time she had finished.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, approaching her door. She wanted to sleep and now that wasn't going to be possible and she wanted to know why her sudden surprise visitor was sitting in front of her door.


	21. Chapter 21

Zoe stood in front of her door for what felt like ever waiting for her sudden guest to say anything and when he hadn't, she asked again, "what are you doing here?"

"Apologizing in person means more than saying it over the phone or through a message, I see you got the flowers and bear I sent," he said, getting to his feet his hand going to rub at the back of his neck. "It took me nearly ever florist in New York to find one that sold Bluebells," he tossed out there with a shrug, taking them for her.

"They're beautiful, Wade. Thank you for them," she told him softly, getting her door unlocked. Stepping inside her place, she held the door open for him to enter. "Sit 'em over there," she directed to the end table by the chair.

"Zoe, I'm sorry for my actions and you need to know that I wouldn't cheat on you," he told her the second she had the door shut.

"That doesn't explain the picture of her with her hand in your pants pocket," Zoe told him, anger overtaking the sleep that had seeped in.

"I didn't know she was going to reach into my pocket," he was saying watching the emotions fighting on her face. People had asked him what he was doing with Stella when he had someone like Zoe. He looked at them like they had grown a second head and he went in search of Dash to get the information he needed. Upon seeing the picture he needed to make a huge grand gesture to get Zoe to accept his apology, so he hopped on a plane and found himself sitting outside his girlfriend's place waiting for her to return home from work. An older man had taken pity on him and let him inside the building so he didn't have to look like some crazed person waiting on the steps all night long. "I'm sorry about getting mad at you, I'm sorry for getting drunk off my ass, I'm sorry for it all, I may be a horrible boyfriend at times but I know that if I ever cheated on you, we'd be over with because all we have is trust and I don't want to wreck what we have."

"Thank you for coming here to clear things up Wade. You're not always horrible," she smiled, moving to take his hands. "I trust that nothing happened with you and Stella, but maybe…" she was saying when Wade pulled his phone out.

"I get it, who do you want me to call?" He asked.

"I would say George but not even he knows the whole story, so I want to hear what Stella has to say, think you can manage that?" Zoe asked, chewing on her bottom lip.

"It's going to take me a few minutes to get her number that is if I can," he told her watching a smile break out on her face.

"You don't have to do that, Wade," she told him, pulling him with her to her bedroom. Being woken up early because Wade called her and working all night long, she was exhausted and she wanted to sleep the next few days that she had off. She was more than happy to learn that she would be back on the day shift when she went back to work on Saturday.

"Why not?" He asked, sitting on her bed, placing his phone on the night stand.

"The fact you were willing to call her shows me that you really didn't do anything," she was saying walking into the bathroom to get ready for bed. "You wouldn't go through the trouble of tracking her down just so I could hear her side of the story if something else happened."

"I told her I had a girlfriend and I made a lewd comment after that, but that's me and I was drunk and I'm not sayin' it to excuse my behavior or anythin', but I have no plans on ever getting that drunk again," he told her. He wanted to be honest with her, to show her that when he did leave again that she could trust him. "How'd you now about the picture?" He asked.

"Drew called," she told him. He had been honest with her no matter how much it hurt; it was now her turn to be honest with him. "I'm sure my mom had something to do with that."

"How often to you talk to Drew?" Wade asked feeling his anger building up.

"That was the only time I've talked to him since you punched him, I swear it," Zoe pleaded with him.

"Okay," he whispered, seeing the honesty in her big doe eyes assured him, he was overreacting about this, things would be better when they both had a chance to really sleep.

"I learned my lesson the first time when it came to him. How long are you here for?" Zoe asked feeling her exhaustion finally starting to win her over. She laid down feeling content wrapped up in Wade's arms.

"A few days at the most, I just took off, never said I had to go back," he replied letting his eyes drift shut. It wasn't like he hadn't been thinking about moving to be closer to Zoe. At some point one of them was going to have to give up their town/city and he knew that it wasn't going to be Zoe for a whole year yet, maybe longer than that and if he wanted to be with her and take her out on dates then he was the one that was going to need to pack up and move because it made sense and he could work and write from anywhere. That was why he was hoping towards the end that he would get the job performing at the bar and why he was upset more so than normal when they had finally got back to him about things. New York was a big city and he could find a place to work, if nothing else he could take up street performing.

"Stay here if that's what you really want, Wade. I want you here but I'm not making you pick, that wouldn't be fair to you," she replied, suppressing a yawn. She would like to have him in the same place as her, but she wasn't going to have him make a split second decision because they had a fight.

"I can be a bartender anywhere and I don't have an office to where I write songs. But I'll think about it, okay?" He replied. She nodded her head. It was good enough for her. She just wanted to hold off on talking about this all until she had the chance to sleep for a full 12 hours. "Sleep princess," he whispered dropping a kiss to the top of her head.


	22. Chapter 22

"What?" Wade asked feeling his girlfriend's eyes on him for what felt like the millionth time in the last hour. At first it was cute but now it was starting to get on his nerves. Their morning had been filled with little chatter about the on goings that was happening in Bluebell; Zoe was finding herself mesmerized by the small town. It was filled with charm and she loved it. The afternoon found them sitting in Central Park people watching after grabbing a slice of pizza.

"Last night," she started to say turning sideways on the bench. "Did you really mean that?" She asked chewing on her bottom lip. She could feel that one little topic was going to cause problems for them if they didn't talk about it and get everything out in the open.

"Mean what? I said a few different things last night, baby," he commented, resting a hand on her knee that was bent on the bench. He did have a good idea on what she was referring to. He meant what he had said about moving to be with her, just not now, because he knew that it was too soon and that it would be rushing into things between them and that wasn't something he wanted to happen, he didn't want to mess things up with Zoe, she was different in a good way.

"You know what, Wade," she sighed. "You wanting to move out here." He nodded, running a hand through his hair. "I think it's something we need to discuss, Wade. We've only been dating a short amount of time, you moving here for us, it's sweet but I don't want you to give up everything you have going for you, because Wade as much as I like you and I'm determined to make this work, I just don't think you moving here is such a good idea at this moment of time for us, but I can't stop you from moving here if it's for a job, that is my opinion on the whole thing," she told him. Hearing her say that made him like her even more after getting past the hurt that wanted to come out, but he got it because he felt the same way.

"I get your concern and when I do move here, because I don't see us ending over night for the foreseeable future, it'll be because I want to move here and not because it's a way to keep us together. As much as I enjoy what the city here has to offer, I'm not ready to give everything up for you, but that's how I feel now. One day that will change, at least I hope it does," Wade told her, as he watched hurt and happiness play across her face as he spoke.

"So last night?" She asked him, placing her hand on top of his. He turned his hand over, his fingers lacing with hers.

"I got caught up in my own head, because taking you out on dates and showing you off, is something I want to do all the time, you're down right beautiful, Zo and I want every other loser in this city to know that you're off limits," he told her with a smug smirk watching as her blood rushed to her face and neck.

"I like that too. For those floozy women back in Bluebell and nearby towns to know that you're mine," she replied.

"They know," he remarked, pulling her closer to him. Zoe giggled, letting her head rest against him. "I was thinking since you have tomorrow off and tomorrow will be my last day here that we could check out that little club that opened up near your place, that is if you want to," Wade suggested. Zoe lit up at that suggestion.

"I've been meaning to go check the place out but I can't get any of my friends to agree because we never have the same days off lately," she told him.

"Not even Gigi?" He questioned shocked.

"It's not her scene and she gets tired of going to clubs with me because I'm always tired from work and I won't help her out when it comes to the guys because I'm not interested in them because I have you," she rambled hearing the low rumble in Wade's chest from his laughter.

"It's good to know that you don't look at other guys," he said in more of a serious tone than the joking tone he was hoping for. He was worried about what happened when she went out with her friends. Zoe was a very good looking woman, guys noticed and he was worried that she would find someone else that lived closer to her and decide that she no longer wanted some bartender that couldn't even make it as a musician that lived states away from her.

"I'm not going to find anyone else Wade, not while I have you. You're all I need and the fact that we don't live in the same state kind of makes this whole thing better because when we can be together it's special and with the hours I work, I wouldn't see that much of you or really have any spare time to be with you. I barely even go out," she not only told him but assured him, she needed him to know that because they weren't always able to see each other that things weren't any different for them and that she enjoyed her time with him and that a long distance relationship wasn't exactly ideal that it was what she wanted.

"Ya know that I feel the same way. I enjoy this time with you, but…"

"It works for us," she finished for him. Wade nodded, dropping a kiss to her soft plump lips.

They enjoyed the rest of their afternoon together, Zoe's favorite part was taking Wade shopping for some new clothes because with Wade just showing up at her door in such a haste he had left without any luggage. He was fine with the jeans and some of the band tees that he came across but he wasn't to keen on the long sleeve shirts Zoe got him or even the pale colored V-neck shirts. He did grab a few plaid button up shirts and Zoe tossed in a few solid color ones as well. He refused to get any other kind of shoes; he was just fine with his work boots. Zoe didn't press the matter. They had bought more clothes than he was going to need to have for just the one day he had left in the city but refusing his girlfriend wasn't exactly his strong suit.

They had danced and had a few drinks neither of them wanting to get drunk, Wade sticking to what he had told Zoe the night before. Getting drunk wasn't something he wanted to do ever again but he was good with just a drink or two through out the night. He wasn't using the night as an excuse to drink but to spend time with his girl on a fun little date. He had a little something more romantic planned for tomorrow night before he had to leave and ruin the little bubble they created whenever they're together.

"I think we should get you outta here," Wade smiled, resting his hands on her waist. Zoe tossed her head back in laughter, her hands resting on the back of his neck.

"Do we have too?" She pouted, after her laughter had subsided. "We're having so much fun," she protested.

"Yes, we are," he agreed, pulling her flush against himself. "But we can have more fun back at your place," he husked into her ear. Zoe shivered, biting her bottom lip.

"Let's go cowboy," she winked, pulling away from her. Wade caught her hand. She looked back at him with a coy look on her face and that was all Wade needed. He guided her out of the club, his hand resting on the small of her back, burning through her dress.

Much like the first night Wade ended up at her place, he had her pressed against the door, just this time there was no stopping or any hesitation, they made their way through the apartment running into things and knocking a few random objects over in their wake to the bedroom.

Wade woke up in the morning to an empty bed. Slowly he sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes. He found his boxers and slipped them on before padding through the place. A smirk sitting on his lips surveying the damage they had done the previous night.

"Laugh all you want, but you will be helping me clean it up," Zoe stated pointing at him with the spoon she was using.

"Who said I was laughing Doc?" He asked, stealing a kiss that tasted like chocolate flavored coffee. "A bit early for ice cream isn't it?" He questioned, standing between her legs from where she was perched on the counter in his button up shirt from the previous night.

"Who cares," she shrugged, taking a drink of her coffee. "I've already got you," she winked, sitting the small carton of ice cream to the side, wrapping her arms around his neck and locking her legs around his waist.

"It's all you had wasn't it?" He chuckled against her neck, resuming his task at hand. Feeling his teeth sink in and his tongue running over the bite mark, she pushed him away.

"You best not have marked me," she warned, her fingers going to the spot on her neck his mouth was just at. He smirked kissing her nose.

"So what if I did?" He questioned, stepping away from her to get his own cup of coffee. "It's low of enough to be covered by any of those scrubs you gotta wear at work," he commented, leaning against the center island in her kitchen. She sent him a soft glare and headed to the bathroom.

"WADE!" She yelled, looking at the mark that was on her skin. Wade chuckled taking a sip of his coffee, finding this whole thing cute and amusing.


	23. Chapter 23

"Since when did you have a man living with you?" Katie asked rummaging through Zoe's closet. She had met Katie her second year in school and they had clicked right away.

Zoe looked up from where she was painting her toe nails. "Oh those things belong to Wade. It made more sense to have him leave those clothes here," she replied, taking a sip of her wine.

"What about the guy stuff in the bathroom?" Gigi asked from across the bedroom. "Are things that serious with Wade?"

"They're getting there," she replied. She really liked him and after their talk about him moving, she could feel that she was starting to fall for him even more and that it wouldn't take much longer for her to be in love with him and that scared her all on its own. "It's easier for him to have things here so that way he's set if he shows up here unexpected," she smiled. She hated watching him go when he left, that was the hard part.

"The next time he's in town I must meet him," Katie commented pulling two dresses from the closet and walking over to the mirror. "In the pictures I've seen you two are just so adorable," she gushed, causing her friend to blush.

"I'm going to Bluebell before he comes back here. It'll be a few months, we don't have a set schedule or anything like that just when we can make it," she explained.

"Why don't you come up with a schedule? You go there for a weekend outta the month and he comes here one weekend outta the month. It can't be that hard?" Gigi asked.

"Because we both work and it's not that easy and I don't want to be asking for time off or even disappointing Wade when I can't make it on a weekend that we had set up for me to go there," she explained.

"I think you should run it past Wade before you dismiss it all the way," Katie told her. Zoe shrugged. She would bring it up to Wade the next time they had a chance to talk. But starting tomorrow night she would be working the night shift for two weeks. She had changed days with a few of her fellow coworkers so that way she could have a few extra days off for when she did show up in Bluebell for George and Annabeth's engagement party.

"I will. Why are we only talking about my love life?" Zoe questioned, leaning back on her bed now that her nails were done.

"Because we don't have a love life. We're not as lucky as you and can snag a man in a band in just one night," Katie replied walking to the bathroom.

"Or we're just a bit more picky in the guys we date," Gigi commented.

"Hey now!" Zoe stated feeling that comment sting more than it should have. "You thought Wade was all that and more," she said.

"But he only had eyes for you," Gigi replied back. "He is good looking and if he wasn't yours I would have found a way to sleep with him, but that's a line I'm not going to cross," she said. Zoe tossed a pillow at her friend.

"I don't even want you to think about my guy like that. It's just…wrong," Zoe commented making a disgusting face.

"Besides that's why we're going out tonight," Katie said walking back into the room.

"No that's why you two are going out. You're forcing me to go," Zoe remarked.

"Not that it was hard," Katie replied rolling her eyes.

A few more laughs were shared and they headed out to a local club. They sat in a corner. Zoe stuck to drinking only a glass of wine, she did work the following night and she didn't want to show up with any signs of a hangover. After a few dances with her friends, she was getting ready to leave when they had ditched her for guys. She made sure they were going to be good before she went to leave the club, though she didn't make it very far.

"Leaving already?" A male's voice sounded in her ear. She could smell the cheap cologne that he was drenched in mixed with the violent odor of alcohol that was on his breath. She ignored him, trying to move away but his hands were holding her back. "Come dance with me."

"Yes, I'm leaving and no, I won't dance with you," Zoe told him, trying to walk off once more but he caught her and pulled her back.

"Not until you come have a dance," he told her. She shook her head.

"Let me go!" She hissed.

"I can't do that baby," he murmured in her ear. She struggled against him, she looked around for someone to help her out but everyone was oblivious to what was going on.

"Please let me go," she begged.

"She said to let her go," a deep voice rang out. "I suggest you do as told." Zoe looked to see where the voice was coming from, now that her attacker had let her go. In the dim light she was having trouble making out who the guy was. From what she could see he was easy on the eyes. She sent the guy that helped her out a sliver of a smile and walked out. "Ya know most people thank the person that saved them," he said easily catching up to Zoe.

"Thank you," she replied a tad bit of sarcasm in her voice, trying to hail a cab.

"You can repay me by getting a drink with me," he suggested with a leer. "I'll even let the attitude go." Zoe rolled her eyes.

"I have a boyfriend," she replied, pulling the door to the cap open.

"I don't see him anywhere so it can be our little secret," he suggested.

"Go find someone else, would ya?" She asked climbing into the car and shutting the door, giving the cab driver her address.

Wade was sitting around with Meatball and the rest of the guys as they went over a new song. Something was wrong with it and they couldn't figure out what that something was yet. The drummer called a much needed break against Wade's wishes. He was going to protest the break when his phone started to ring. He grumbled at the guys and stepped outside once he saw that Zoe was calling him. "Hey, baby," he greeted a smile overtaking his face, his features softening. All he got in return were sobs. "Zo, what's wrong?" He asked, worry cursing through him.

"It's," Zoe sobbed louder. She went into a tirade of a rant and all he could make out was something about a club and that guys were jackasses.

"Wade come on," Meatball called out to him. "The sooner we can figure this out the sooner we can get outta here."

"Give a few minutes," he called back. They'd already been at it all night a few more minutes for a break weren't going to hurt them, not when he had Zoe crying on the phone. "Zoe baby can you take a deep breath for me?" He asked.

Slowly he heard her cries become less and soon enough she was sniffling. "I'm sorry," she told him.

"I don't mind it, Zo. But mind telling me what happened?" Wade asked.

"Gigi and Katie were over and we got ready to go the club," she was saying. He nodded listening to what she was saying. The more she said about the club the more he could feel his anger rising. "You have to know that I wouldn't do that to you. I wouldn't ruin what we have," she told him quickly after she finished explaining the whole night to him.

"I know you wouldn't, but guys aren't going to stop hitting on you and I trust you Zoe."

"I know," she responded, wiping at her eyes.

"You are okay now right?" Wade asked.

"I'm good, thank you Wade," Zoe told him. "What are you doing up at this hour anyway?" She asked.

"Song trouble," he replied. "Why don't you get some rest and I'll talk to you after the sun comes up and you've gotten some sleep, okay?" Wade suggested.

"Yeah, okay, bye Wade," Zoe replied with a yawn.

"Night Zoe," Wade told her, hanging up his phone. Thinking back to the conversation he just had with his girlfriend brought his anger back out. He stormed inside and the guys seeing the look on Wade's face they got into place and when they went through the song, it was perfect.

"That was perfect, I'm out," Meatball called. With that Wade kicked the rest of them out and sat down with his guitar on his lap and started to strum a random melody out to work out his anger at the situation that Zoe was in. He was mad at himself more than anything else. Guys were going to be dicks and he was confident now that Zoe would always walk away from them. He was mad because he wasn't there to protect her, to keep her safe like he was supposed to do. What kind of boyfriend was he if he couldn't do that for her?

"You look like hell," Lavon commented, pouring syrup on his waffles.

"Feel like it as well," Wade commented, pouring a huge cup of coffee. He had only managed to get a few hours of sleep.

"What happened?" Lavon asked concerned. Wade shook his head.

"Just some stuff with Zoe. She went out last night and called me crying and in the long run of things made me feel like the worst boyfriend in the history of boyfriends," he sighed taking a gulp of his hot coffee.

"You're not the worst boyfriend," Lavon tried to comfort him, pulling his phone out as he did so. "It's just one of the many struggles of a long distance relationship."

"You ain't really helping me out here," Wade pointed out sitting down, staring at the small stack of waffles.

"They won't fly into your mouth, Wade," he chuckled, pushing the plate closer to him. "Things they'll get better for ya," he said getting up. "There's a problem in town square. Talk to her," he said walking out. He pulled his phone out ready to call Zoe when her picture was flashing on his screen.

"Morning beautiful," he greeted.

"Morning and thank you for the flowers," she told him. He could hear the smile in her voice. He frowned. He hadn't sent any flowers to her, not yet anyway. He hadn't worked up the energy to deal with a florist shop yet.

"Baby they ain't from me, I only ever sent you the bluebells," he told her.

"What? But," she stammered out. She took the card out. "Because you make the days better, here's a little something to brighten your day. XOXO," she read out loud.

"I'm sorry baby, but they're not from me," he replied. His anger slowly coming back up at the fact that some random guy was sending his girl flowers.

"Ugh." He heard Zoe sigh. Hearing a loud noise he cringed.

"What happened?"

"I threw the flowers away. I don't want any flowers from some creep." Wade chuckled; relief washing over him hearing Zoe throwing the flowers out. "Do you think that we need to have a schedule on when we visit each other?" She asked, sitting down in the living room.

"We don't at least I don't think we do. It would make things easier; do you want to come up with one?" He asked.

"I was thinking that maybe one weekend outta the month I can go down there and one weekend out of the month you can come here."

"That's going to add up though Zoe, I would like to spend a weekend out of the month with you every month but maybe we should just have one visit per month or every few months."

"I guess," Zoe replied.

"We'll figure it out, we have no rush," he told her. Zoe nodded. "You doing okay after last night?"

"Much better thanks to you and I'm sorry for calling you while I was crying."

"Don't worry about it, that's what I'm here for."

"You're not mad are you?" She asked chewing her lip.

"Of course not. I have no reason to be mad at you, Zoe. You can't control what other people do," he told her.

"Okay," she replied. "How'd the song turn out?" She asked, letting a light topic take over.

"Good, really good." He was going to talk to her about how horrible he felt but he didn't want to worry her not right now, not after the night she had. If the feeling didn't go away then he would talk to her about it.


	24. Chapter 24

"What's with the funky mood as of late?" Wanda asked taking a seat at the bar on her break. Working next to someone for a few years meant you got to know them and watching Wade this past week and a half she had noticed the funk he was in.

"Just missing Zoe. She's been working nights so she can spend a few extra days here for the party. I'm happy that she's willing to do that so we can spend more time together and all but I miss her," he sighed shaking his head.

"Sounds to me that you have real feelings for her and it's not just lust or even the thrill of the chase," Wanda mused.

"I really do like her," he responded not skipping a beat. "She's just different in a very good way. We have nothing in common but yet we have so much in common. We shouldn't work but yet we do."

"Why don't you go on home? You've closed for the past two weeks. I can handle tonight. Try to find a few minutes to call your girlfriend," Wanda suggested.

"I don't know," he sighed ready to protest.

"No, you're going home, Wade. I'm not letting you stay," she demanded. With a sigh Wade reluctantly agreed to go. There was no way that he was going to win any argument with Wanda.

Pulling up to his house he checked his phone to see that again there was nothing from Zoe. They had been texting back and forth but that wasn't the same and he was tired of playing tag with her voicemail. Walking into his house he failed to notice the soft glow from the candles that surrounded his bed. "What the?" He cursed under his breath when his lights refused to come on with a flick of the switch. He turned to head to the fuse box when the creak of the bathroom door opening got his attention.

"Hey," she spoke softly. There in his place in a pair of his boxers and a wife beater stood his girlfriend. "It blew about 20 minutes ago. I didn't know how to fix it. I'm sorry to be wearing your clothes but the airline lost mine and I've got nothing else to wear," she explained snapping her boyfriend from his paralyzed state.

"It's fine, Doc" he husked out in reply, quickly closing the gap between them, his lips assaulting hers. She was quick to open her mouth for the kiss to deepen.

Zoe's head rested on his chest as he played with a few strands of her hair. They lay in the afterglow enjoying the moment. "I did think about telling you but I really wanted to surprise you," she confessed breaking the silence.

"Don't be sorry about that, it was one helluva surprise," he smirked. "I wasn't expecting you for two more days, what gives?"

"I was able to trade a few different days later in the month for extra days. I'm here until Tuesday afternoon," she explained.

He was making plans to spend those 5 days in his bed. The rest of the world could wait. He was going to make the most of it. "Lost luggage huh?" Wade smirked. Zoe rolled her eyes.

"I've already talked to Annabeth and tomorrow while you are at work I'll be shopping with AB," Zoe stated moving to sit up. "I noticed something interesting while looking for something to wear," she commented straddling his lap.

"What's that?" He husked out, his left hand gripping her waist whilst his right hand went to her breast.

"Half your closet is now empty and you have not one but two empty drawers," she moaned out.

"Mm-hmm," he mumbled, flipping them over. "I can't have my woman living out of her suitcases while she's here," he further explained as his lips set a fire trail over her tan skin.

"Thank you," she told him pulling his face to hers.

"No thanks necessary," he responded, kissing down her body. All train of thought from that point on was gone as they enjoyed the sensation they created.

"I was wondering when I'd see the likes of you two," Lavon joked seeing Wade and Zoe enter his kitchen.

"Someone wouldn't let us stay the whole day in bed," Wade pouted.

"As much I like that idea and wearing your shirts, I need to get clothes," Zoe responded. She was wearing her jeans from yesterday with one of Wade's flannel shirts. She had the sleeves rolled up to her elbows with the first couple buttons left unbuttoned.

"I like this look," he commented, dropping a kiss to the crown of her head. Zoe smiled, looking up at him.

"I still need a dress for the party, just in case I don't get my luggage in time," she told him softly.

"I'm fine with ya staying naked," he winked. Zoe rolled her eyes, not even bothering to hide the blush that was creeping up on her cheeks spreading down her neck.

"That is something that Lavon Hayes and the rest of Bluebell doesn't need to see," Lavon spoke up.

"You nuts?" Wade asked. "I ain't lettin' you see that, any how," he remarked.

"Just go," Zoe told him with a playfully shove towards the door.

"I'll get off as early as I can," Wade told her, stealing a kiss.

"Don't get into trouble on my account," Zoe told him breaking the kiss. Wade smirked, sending her a wink on his way out of the house. "He has trouble wrote all over him, doesn't he?" She asked, taking a bite of her bagel.

"Doesn't he always?" Lavon chuckled.

"How come Lavon knew you were coming?" Wade asked, bursting back into the house. "And Wanda knew something was up as well? How many people knew?" He asked. Zoe couldn't help the giggles that spilled over getting a small glare from her boyfriend.

"I needed a ride, I would have called you if I didn't want to surprise you, so Lavon came and I needed you home sooner rather than later and Wanda was more than willing to lock up the Rammer Jammer, said something about this fowl and funky mood you've been in. The rest of the town other than AB knows nothing. Unless AB, Lavon or Wanda spilled in the short few hours I've been here," Zoe clued him in.

"Oh," was his response. "I'll be seeing ya later Doc," he quickly said and left the house once more. Zoe shook her head.

"That's all yours. You sure that's what you want to deal with? It's only going to get worse," Lavon said. Zoe pushed his shoulder, but he didn't budge.

"I think I'm okay with that," she smiled.

From the spot Lavon was in, he sat studying the woman in his house. He lightly shook his head seeing the far off look on her face. "Ya know if you ever consider moving here, I can fix up the carriage house," he told her. Out of all of the woman Wade's been with and the select few that have stayed in his life longer than a few nights, Zoe was by far his favorite one and that had nothing to do with how big of a fan of his she was.

"Why would you do that for?" Zoe asked.

"Because I like you," he replied. "You make Wade so much easier to deal with while you're here. And we're friends and there isn't any rent you have to pay, all the food you want," he said gesturing around his kitchen.

"As amazing as that sounds, I'm not ready to pack up my life and move here for Wade. He understands this and besides, I have work, I can't just up and leave my job," she told him getting up. "But thanks for the offer Lavon; it was very generous of you."

"The offer remains on the table and maybe you should talk to Brick, he'd love to have another Doctor to help him out," Lavon replied. Zoe shook her head; she had plans of avoiding Brick for as long as possible, she didn't need him to drop anymore bombs on her while she was in town. She still hadn't fixed anything with her mom from the last time she had stopped in and talked to Brick.

"We'll see what happens in a year, Lavon, but I can't promise anything," Zoe told him walking out of the house. She loved the fact that Lavon would do that for her, but she along with Wade had already crossed moving off the list for now, not until they were certain.

"What has you in deep thought?" AB asked, meeting Zoe in the middle of the path.

"Nothing," she replied shaking her head. AB looked at her and left it at that. She had learned that there was no way to make Zoe talk unless she really wanted to.

The short drive to Mobile was spent catching up. They were in a store looking at dresses when AB spoke up. "What kind of dress are you looking for?" She asked.

"Something gorgeous but simple as well, nothing to over the top," Zoe replied, moving to a new rack of dresses. AB nodded and went back to looking. She'd pull one off the rack every so often but Zoe would shake her head. She had tried a few on but together decided that it wasn't the dress she should get.

What felt like hours they found a fuchsia lipsy asymmetric hem dress that Zoe adored. Spending another hour in the mall so Zoe could get a few more things for her stay in Bluebell. Next time the only bag she would need to bring with her was her carry on bag.

With a goodbye to AB Zoe made her way back to Wade's place. She froze seeing the blonde on Wade's porch. "Can I help you?" Zoe asked, slowly making her way up the stairs.

"Who are you?" The strange woman asked.

"Not that it matters but I'm Zoe Hart, who are you and what can I do for you?" Zoe asked, setting her bags inside the door. "What do you want with my boyfriend?"

"Tell him his wife stopped by to see him." Zoe's mouth fell open as the mysterious blonde headed off. Tears were burning her eyes wanting to make their escape.

Zoe sat on the couch not moving once, her mind racing with the fact that Wade was married and he never told her about it. How was she supposed to trust him now? That one little bomb had crushed everything she had thought was possible for her future with Wade.

"Why are you sitting in the dark?" Wade asked with a soft chuckle flipping a light on. "Zoe, what's wrong?" He asked, sitting on the coffee table to see the red puffy eyes of his girlfriend.

"You're married," she whispered through a sob. Her hands flew to cover her face as she cried harder. "I'm the other woman," she sobbed.

"I'm not married," he retorted, pulling her closer. Zoe flinched moving away from him.

"According to your wife you are," she spit at him.

"I have an ex-wife and I was being stupid when that happened. But I assure you I'm not married." He was trying to keep his anger under control.

"Well she thinks otherwise," Zoe told him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why didn't you tell me that you were married?"

"Because I'm not!" He shouted. "It's not like you shared with me that you have some other guy sending you flowers. Did you figure that one out yet? Or are we playing stupid?" Wade asked back venom dropping his voice.

"Those flowers?" Zoe questioned with a dry chuckle, her tears long gone. She tried to take a deep breath but it was shaky at best. "They were from…"

"Drew, right?" Wade yelled, cutting her off. "Seems there's more than just you two being ex's going on there," he smarted off.

"He's jackass prick that I wish I would have never met. Just like I wish I would have never went to that stupid bar the night you were playing," she hissed, storming past him.

"I was 19 and stupid," he sighed, running a hand through his hair, he needed to do something to keep her from walking away. "She didn't mean anything to me then and she means less to me now, I haven't seen her since. I was served divorce papers and I signed them and returned them. I have no idea what it is she wants. I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I can't change my past."

"And I don't know if this is going to work out. You kept something major from me and I had to find out from her and not you. That hurt. I thought we were in this together, Wade?" Zoe told him, moving closer to the door. She needed some space and a chance to breath. She could look past the comments made during their fight about Drew. He was trying to hurt her and he had succeeded in that, but they were stupid comments that he didn't mean, she could see that much behind the fire in his eyes.

"We are in this together, Zo. Don't leave, please," Wade begged.

"I need some air," she told him softly, walking out the door, fresh tears falling from her eyes.

"Fuck," Wade cursed, punching the closest thing to him.


	25. Chapter 25

**_It took me a little longer than I had thought to get this chapter wrote and there is still things I don't like about it, but I do hope that you guys find something good about this chapter. Enjoy._**

* * *

"Do you mind if I join your guys' little pity party?" Zoe asked entering Lavon's place, dried tears on her cheeks.

"We are not having a stupid pity party," Lemon huffed with an annoyed eye roll.

"Uh huh, what's got you guys so down?" She asked taking a spot on the couch next to Lavon. He tossed an arm around her pulling her in for the hug she desperately needed. If for a moment she could forget about her problem with Wade she was going to take it.

"We're in love with two people who are getting married," he sighed. "What's with you? Just a few hours ago you were all happy and in love." Zoe scoffed; closing her eyes, the pain from learning the truth about Wade came cursing back through her body.

"Wade's married," Zoe sighed. "He didn't even have the decency to tell me about her. He swears up and down that she's his ex-wife but I talked to her today," she mini ranted. "It hurts to know that he was able to keep something that huge from me."

"She's a bit out there, from what I know they were never really married, it wasn't legal anyway, but then what do I know?" Lemon asked with a shrug.

"We all have those moments in our past we forget and block out, she was apart of that time in Wade's life he blocks out because it's easier for him to so. Lavon gets he lied to you, Zo, but it was for a good reason," Lavon assured.

"I don't know how," she replied, shaking her head. "Who is it you two love?" Zoe questioned, taking this new information in. Maybe she should have stayed and let Wade explain things to her. There had to be a perfectly good explanation on everything. It hurt so much because she did care for him deeply, maybe even loved him.

"It doesn't matter now, they're set to be married and we're celebrating their engagement this weekend. We can't exactly profess our love for them now can we?" Lemon asked on the sarcastic side.

"I guess not, but what do I know?" Zoe asked getting up. "Just don't do anything stupid," she replied walking to the door. What little was said with Lavon and even Lemon was enough to know that things with Wade were not going to fix themselves and in order to make this right again she needed to suck up the pain and the fear and face Wade.

"The same could be said about you," Lavon called after her making her stop in her spot.

"Why's that?" She asked looking over her shoulder at them.

"That guy is crazy about you and with as upset as you are about this whole new development you're crazy about him. Don't let this one thing ruin what you guys have," Lemon stated.

Zoe nodded and headed out the door, letting Lemon's words circle around in her mind. The walk back to the gate house was a short one giving her just a little bit longer to figure things out. Walking through the door she saw Wade sitting on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands. She could see that his right hand was swollen. She walked over to the bed sitting down next to him, taking his left hands in hers. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"I should be the one that's sorry and I'm sorry for everything Zoe. I should have told you about her, I just didn't want you to run before you gave us a chance, I was going to tell you all about her when the time was right, I wasn't trying to keep the two weeks I was married from you, I swear I wasn't, there just never is a good time to say hey I was married once," he quickly explained. Zoe nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry about bringing Drew up that was wrong of me. It was a jackass move on my part."

"It was very wrong of you," Zoe told him, taking a deep breath. "I should have stayed instead of walking away, but I needed a chance to clear my head before we both said even more things that we were only going to regret. I want to be with you, Wade that hasn't changed," she explained to him.

"I want you, and I promise you that my ex means nothing to me, you're everything I need, Zo. I can feel myself falling hard for you and that does scare me but I don't want to stop it."

"I'm flattered Wade and I do feel the same about you," she told him with a kiss to the cheek. "I believe you, but I want to understand why you would just marry someone you don't even love."

"I was drunk; I had just gotten into this huge fight with my brother again. I couldn't take it, I swiped some liquor from my dad, it wasn't like he was going to notice it was missing and for a night I wanted to forget everything that was wrong with my life and it had worked until I ended up at some party two towns over. I met her and I thought she would solve all my problems. She had an answer for everything at least she did while I was wasted off my ass, the week I spent with her was amazing, all my problems were gone. I kept on drinking while I was with her. It was easier that way. And the second the sun came up one morning and the courthouse opened up we were there getting hitched. It was days later when I was fully sober that I learnt of my actions. I realized that was no way to live my life. She's crazy and I don't want her, I want you, baby," he told her. Zoe nodded brushing her lips across the back of his hand.

"Does she have a name?" Zoe asked softly.

"Does knowing her name change anything?" He asked.

"No it doesn't but I'd like to know the name of your ex-wife."

"Tansy," he replied. Zoe nodded taking a deep breath.

"And it's over, whatever it was?"

"There never was anything with her. I signed the papers, Zo, you can talk to George he was there when I got the papers and when I signed them. On my part it's official. I have no idea what it is she wants from me other than to make my life a living hell." He was being honest with her, keeping his heart open and hoping that she wouldn't make him regret it.

"Okay," she told him. "But what I don't get is why Lemon would think that your marriage to Tansy was never legal," she thought out loud.

"Welcome to Bluebell, Dr. Zoe Hart," Wade smirked. "Where rumors fly high," he added with a chuckle. "I don't know why she would tell you that. Where'd you run into Lemon at?" He questioned.

"Lavon's," she told him. She wasn't about to spill what it was Lemon was doing over there. It wasn't her business to get involved with.

"Huh, I never pictured the two of them," Wade remarked.

"I forgive you Wade, but my trust is still broken," Zoe told him getting back to the topic at hand and not about Lavon and Lemon. "You kept this from me whether it was intentional or not and that hurt."

"I'll do whatever it takes, Zo. I promise you," he told her love and sincerity pouring out with each word. "Now about Drew, is there anything that I can do about him?" He asked.

"Sadly no," Zoe told him, letting her head fall to his shoulder. "I'll get that sorted out when I go back home. He thinks so highly of himself and he'd just mock you and make things worse for all of us. I need to go straight to the source which is my mother to stop him. The thing about Drew he's only doing as he is told to do. His family has more money than mine but he can be easily bought when his father cuts him off."

"Is that why you're mom is so high up on him?"

"Oh yeah," Zoe replied. "To be fair Drew was amazing at first, just over time things got worse with him, but honestly you've been a better boyfriend than he had ever been, even when we were just friends." Wade smirked. "Come on let me take a look at your hand there. What did you hit?" She asked, moving to cradle his swollen hand.

"The door," he shrugged. "It doesn't hurt that bad," he winced, feeling pain surge through this hand right up his arm as Zoe carefully examined his hand.

"Lucky for you nothing's broken, just some bruising," she told him walking to the freezer. Digging through what little contents there was she really thought she was going to be giving him a bottle of beer to press against his hand. With one last glance she spotted an ice pack. "You really shouldn't be punching things, I won't always be here to fix you up," she joked.

"For now," he commented, sucking air through his teeth the second the cold stung his battered and bruised hand. Zoe shared a smile with Wade, letting everything fall away, her time in Bluebell was meant to be fun and not one where she was going to be spending her time mad at Wade.


	26. Chapter 26

It had been two days since Wade had made the comment about Zoe not being around all the time for now, the very idea of moving to be with Wade scared her but at the same time it made her feel like she was floating to know that he was thinking that far ahead especially after the little episode with his ex. She still refused to talk about Tansy any further than they already had. She had come to the terms that it was in the past, his past. He was adamant that it was over and she really did believe him now that she was looking at the whole situation with a clear mind. She had no intent to keep bringing it up only to bring them down. The best thing was to let it go now that they had talked about it. Even though she was letting the subject matter go, Wade still had to make up for lying to her, for keeping something so huge from her, but she wasn't going to hold it against him. He couldn't prove things to her over night, it took time.

"Someone seems deep in thought," George said coming to stand next to her. Zoe gave him a smile.

"Congrats George," she told him, surveying the crowd around them to celebrate his engagement to Annabeth. "Why would you wait to have this little party for when I could make it? You didn't know that I was the one Wade talked about," she commented, sipping on her wine. Hearing Wade and even AB tell her, made her wonder. Wade didn't have the answers to that question and AB would shrug and change the topic with a smile on her face.

"We didn't, for all we knew it could have been a different Doctor in New York named Zoe. I wanted to hold off because I had to make sure that you weren't using him because he's this rock star and one day he's going to be famous, I had to make sure that you were real and wanting Wade because of who is around here, you get that don't you?" He asked, placing his empty glass down.

"I do get that and you're a wonderful friend for keeping an eye out for him," Zoe praised him. George blushed lightly looking to where his fiancée stood.

"He has my back as well," George commented, walking off. Zoe looked around the party frowning when she couldn't spot Wade anywhere.

"You okay?" Lemon asked, coming to stand next to Zoe.

"Uh, yeah," Zoe answered. "How are you holding up?" Zoe asked, catching where Lemon's focus was at.

"Oh you know," Lemon sighed. "I don't even remember what went wrong. One minute I have my whole future planned out with George and the next its over."

"I didn't know you and him dated," Zoe said surprised with this new revelation.

"We dated from the time we were 13 to 20," she informed the New Yorker. 7 years of being with someone was a long time, she could see why Lemon was hung up and still in love with George. "I don't even remember the fight that led up to us breaking up for the final time. I really thought we would work it out, but he started to spend time with AB and the rest is history."

"I'm sorry Lemon," Zoe told her. Telling her that there was someone else out there for her just didn't seem like the thing to be said right now.

"Wade headed outside a few minutes ago," the blonde informed her with a smile. "You're not as bad as I had thought when I first met you," Lemon stated, leaving Zoe alone once more.

Before anyone else could come up to her, Zoe headed for the door and headed into the cool night air, wrapping her arms around herself as her eyes focused to the darkness that surrounded her. With her eyes adjusted Zoe looked around in hopes that she would spot Wade. It was the voices that pulled her around the corner, where she froze watching the scene play out in front of her.

"I made a mistake letting you go, Wade. Please just give me one more chance to prove that I've changed," Tansy pleaded, resting her hands on Wade's biceps. Wade shrugged her hands off of him.

"Ya know what the biggest mistake in my life is Tansy?" Wade asked, moving away from her to put some distance between them. Tansy shook her head. "You," Wade told her ice in his voice. He was done trying to be nice to her. There was only so many ways to tell her that he didn't want her to be in his life ever again and that what they did have was this huge mistake in his life.

"You don't mean that," Tansy said on the verge of tears.

"I do mean that Tansy, I don't love you, I never did," he told her roughly, shoving a hand through his short hair. "I love Zoe," he said softly, testing the words on his tongue.

The second those words reached Zoe, she smiled and back tracked. She wasn't supposed to hear that and she wasn't going to say anything about hearing him say those words out loud. She felt the same way that he did, but she wasn't ready to say those words to him. Walking back into the party she had ran into Lavon. He shot her a look but she brushed it off and they easily fell into a conversation.

Back outside with Wade, Tansy stood staring at him. "I love her," he smiled, the words easily coming out once more. They had been floating around his head for a while now but he was scared to say them out loud. He didn't want to scare Zoe away. They hadn't been dating very long a few months but they spent very little time with each other, but he did love her. His world was brighter and better with her in his life.

"Good luck with that, Wade," Tansy told him, slowly backing away.

Wade watched as she left him alone outside in the dark, the moon blanketed by the grey clouds in the night sky. Looking in a window he smiled, watching Zoe laugh. For the first time in a long time he was happy that he had taken that gig in the city, it had lead him to Zoe and he may not know what the future held for them but he was damn sure ready to find out. He walked around the side of the building and entered the establishment only to freeze watching his father walk up to where Zoe was standing.

"You must be that pretty little doctor that the town is going on about that's dating my boy," Earl slurred slightly.

"Earl," Wade said in a warning tone. "Why don't you go home and get some rest," Wade suggested.

"Boy you ain't my boss," Earl seethed, stumbling slightly.

"Someone needs to be," Wade mumbled under his breath, trying to tow his father out of the place before he made an even bigger scene.

"Let me help," Zoe said, going to the other side to help move Earl.

Upon getting Earl home he had passed out. Wade had gotten Earl into bed, knowing that he was going to be okay for the night, went back out to the car. The drive back to the mayor's plantation was done in silence. Wade took her hand in his as they made their way to the gate house. "I'm sorry for him. I wanted to introduce you to him sooner and again I didn't. I'm not ashamed of you, it's him," Wade sighed. Zoe lightly squeezed his hand.

"It's okay, really," she assured him. The last thing she wanted was to embarrass Wade over his father. "I'm sure he's lovely when he's sober, maybe we can go over in the morning to check on him," Zoe suggested.

"You wouldn't mind?" He asked, his free hand going to the back of his neck.

"Wade, he's your father, of course I wouldn't mind. You have to know that whatever he does or says it won't change how I feel about you," she confirmed for the unsaid worry that was settled in his green orbs.

With a sigh of relief he pulled Zoe in for a lingering kiss. The kiss heated up as they stood under the darkening clouds that hung above them ready to open up and drench them in cold drops of rain. Laughter could be heard as they raced inside to feel the warmth the gate house had to offer.

"I'm no doctor but I happen to know that if you keep those wet clothes on you will get sick," Wade smirked, peeling his own wet clothes off his body. Zoe laughed; she was quick to unzip the dress she was wearing to let it fall to the floor in a wet heap.

"I suggest we do something to keep from being cold," she whispered in his ear, nipping at his ear lobe.

"I can think of something," he husked out, sending more goose bumps across her damp skin, backing her up to the bed.

Wade woke up with a cringe hearing Zoe plucking away on his guitar. "What are you doing?" He asked taking in the scene before him. Zoe was sitting on the bed, in one of his shirts, his guitar on her lap.

"You make playing look so easy," she told him, glancing behind her to lock her eyes with his.

"I've also been playing since I was a kid," Wade smirked, moving behind her. "Let me help," he whispered, moving her hands and placing her fingers in the right position on the neck of the guitar. He helped her strum a few notes out.

Zoe smiled, leaning back against him as he helped her play a few notes. They sat on the bed Wade teaching Zoe how to play one of his songs as the sun moved across them through the window as it rose higher and higher into the sky. It was the rumbling of stomachs that broke them apart.

They got some pastries from the Butter Stick and headed off to check on Earl. Zoe's hand firmly in Wade's, the car ride was filled with a comfortable silence as a soft melody from the radio washed over them.

"You don't have to come in," Wade told her turning the car off.

"I want to do this Wade," she assured him. Wade nodded and together they headed into Wade's childhood home.

Earl was sitting in the chair his head in his hands, a bottle of beer sitting on the table in front of him. He didn't even bother to glance up when he heard the door open. He however did look up when he heard the second set of footsteps. He looked between Wade and Zoe waiting for an explanation.

"I should have done this sooner," Wade said, pulling Zoe with him to sit on the couch. "This is Zoe, my girlfriend. Zoe this is my father Earl," Wade introduced.

"It's nice to meet you Earl. Wade's told me a lot about you," she smiled.

"I would like to say the same, but my son has told me nothing about you," Earl replied back.

"That's okay," Zoe replied feeling how tense Wade had gotten. "We couldn't have you believing a word Wade says anyway," Zoe smiled. Wade relaxed a nervous smile playing on his lips. Earl chuckled, sitting a little straighter in his chair. "I'm a doctor; I have a little over 9 months left on my residency. I was born in New York and I love the city, but your little town is rather charming," Zoe told him. "Hmm what else is there to know?" She asked herself.

"How long have you two been dating?" Earl asked, taking a pastry from the box that Wade had opened up.

"Nearly 3 and a half months now," Wade confirmed. "This is only her second time in Bluebell," Wade tacked on.

The better part of their morning and well into the afternoon was spent with Earl. Wade embarrassed at the stories Earl was telling to a very amused Zoe. When they had walked out of the house in the late afternoon, Wade was pleasantly surprised that in the whole time they were with his dad that Earl never touched a drop of alcohol.

"I like your dad," Zoe smiled at him.

"He likes you too," Wade confirmed, kissing her hand.


	27. Chapter 27

"Can't we like I dunno freeze time?" Wade asked tightening his grip on his girlfriend as they stood in the airport before Zoe had to walk away from him. "I swear you just got here," he whined pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

"I know," Zoe sighed letting her head fall against his chest. Leaving was always the hard part and it was only getting harder and harder each time. One of these times they weren't going to be able to walk away.

Knowing where Wade stood with her and ultimately Tansy she had let that go but him lying about something huge in his past she was having a harder time learning how to trust him again with her going back to New York. She had a few people tell her that they would send reports back to her. She didn't feel comfortable with spying on him. She wanted to trust him again and in order to do that she couldn't be going behind his back to lose his trust in her.

The few remaining days she did have with Wade she waited with baited breath for those three words to come but they never did and if he had noticed her on edge he never mentioned anything about it. And he did notice but he chalked it up to him keeping something from her, so he let it go. It was those days that had brought them a little closer but he could tell that Zoe wasn't fully back and he vowed that he would make Zoe trust him again. He did question what happened at the party because since that night Zoe had been smiling a lot more. He just never got an honest answer from her.

Nothing more needed to be said between them. Neither one was going to suggest moving because after everything they still weren't ready for anyone to be moving across the country. She was still waiting for Wade to say I love you. Even though they had only been together for 3 and a half months she loved him as well, she just wasn't going to be the first one to say it.

"Four weeks and I'll be there for another gig," Wade whispered in her ear.

"A month away from you seems like years, Wade," she sighed, turning her head to kiss his neck lightly.

"We've made it this long, we can go one more month," he softly chuckled in her ear to cover up his own sadness at being away from his girlfriend for a very long month.

"I know but it doesn't mean I have to like it," she sighed burying her head into the crook of his neck.

"Me either, Princess," he sighed, pulling her away breaking the hug they had going on. "If you don't go now, you're going to miss your flight and that will only lead to you being late and you are still on probation at the hospital." Zoe pressed her lips against his. He was quick to nibble on her bottom lip and she wasted no time parting her lips letting their tongues say goodbye.

They parted with sad smiles on their faces and Zoe waited to see if anymore words were going to come from Wade, but they never did and it was starting to drive her crazy that he wouldn't just admit his true feelings. Though if he felt anything like her about saying those words she was going to let it go and let him do this at his own pace because she did know how special it was for him and it was scary.

With one final kiss Zoe reluctantly walked off needing to make her flight, her very boring flight that seemed to drag on.

Seeing the bouquet of Bluebells sitting in front of her door, she smiled. This time unlike the last time she knew exactly who the flowers were from. Wade was the only one to send her Bluebells. Unlocking her door she walked inside placing the flowers on the kitchen counter. A smile on her lips, **'Giving you a touch of Bluebell. Hugs and Kisses.'**

Smelling the flowers she pressed the right buttons on her phone to call Wade. "They're beautiful," she gushed, not even giving him the chance to answer the phone. "How?" She questioned softly.

"Flights take a while and I was able to call while you were boarding your flight. If you have something to remind you of Bluebell you won't miss it as much," he said softly. Zoe swore she could hear the blood rushing to his face over his tender words. She loved that this side of Wade was reserved for her.

"Thank you for being such a thoughtful boyfriend and doing this for me, Wade," she told him, her words just as soft and tender as his were.

"I have a lot to prove, Zo," he told her. "You mean the world to me and I was wrong in trying to hide any of my past from you, I do want you to know about it…" he was saying when she cut him off mid sentence.

"I know and Wade there's plenty of time for both of us to learn more about each other's past, we'll get there. Just focus on proving that I can trust you, okay?" She questioned.

"I will but Zo, I think you need to go make amends with your mom. I don't agree with what she had done, but you need to sit down and get to the bottom of why she did what she did. Can you do that for me?" He asked. Zoe sat on her couch frowning.

"What does me making amends with my mom have anything to do for you?" She questioned.

"It doesn't but I can see that it still affects you Zo. And I hate seeing you at such odds with your mom. Please just think about talking to her," he pleaded with her.

"I'll think about it," she told him softly.

After a few more minutes on the phone Wade had to go and get back to work, now that she wasn't on the phone she checked her messages to see that they had found her luggage and she spent the next hour on the phone with the airline so she could get her things back.

It was the next day and Zoe was sitting in the hospital cafeteria when Katie joined her. "What?" Zoe asked feeling her friends' eyes on her.

"Did you have fun with your rock star boyfriend?" Katie asked a smirk on her face. Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Don't you have your own life to live?" Zoe answered back with her own question.

"Of course I do, but I don't have a hottie rock star in my life," Katie smiled.

"Then get one," Zoe laughed, getting up.

"I can't, seems I'm not as lucky as you," Katie laughed back. Zoe rolled her eyes. "There's a gift for you in the lounge." Zoe gave her friend a quizzical look and headed to see what was waiting for her when Katie wouldn't tell her anymore. Walking in a smile over took her face on its own seeing the bouquet of Bluebell's sitting on the table in a very pretty glass shaped guitar vase, pulling the card with her name on it out. **'I was drowning in this world, a dying man, you walked into my life; your brown eyes showing me the light, your smile showed me the way.'**

 ** _'Oh Wade,'_** Zoe texted to him, wiping at the lone tear that made its escape from her eye, she knew these were the lyrics to the song that he was writing and promised she'd be the first one to hear. Feeling her phone vibrate in her hand had her looking away from the words on the card to see that he had replied back. **_"XOXO Princess.'_**


	28. Chapter 28

Zoe smiled leaving the hospital. It had been a week since returning home and she only had the two bouquets of Bluebells from Wade. She had talked to him plenty and he would send her texts that made her smile. The flowers were a nice touch but she just missed Wade and hearing his voice once or twice a day it was enough to get her by, but she was finding it was harder and harder to let him go. And Wade was feeling the same way about Zoe.

She hailed a cab her feet too sore to walk from the hospital to the subway station. She was exhausted beyond belief. All she really wanted to do was curl up with a warm cup of tea and wait until Wade called her on his break.

Upon arriving home she sighed knowing that what little plans she had for the night were not going to be happening seeing her mom waiting in her apartment for her. She really was too tired to fight with her mom about who knows what. Wade was right she needed to talk to her mom, she needed to get all this anger and resentment she still had at her mom out so they could work on rebuilding their relationship.

"That key is for emergencies only," Zoe bit out before she had the luxury of stopping it. Zoe closed her eyes, placing her purse and keys down. "Sorry," Zoe apologized.

"Zoe," Candice sighed. She didn't want to fight with her daughter, that wasn't what this visit was about. "I want us to be the adults that we truly are," she told her daughter.

"I want that too," Zoe said, walking into the kitchen to make that cup of tea she was craving. "Want some?" Zoe asked, digging the box down from the cupboard.

"That would be nice," Candice stated, filling the tea kettle up with water to place on the stove.

With the water on the stove, Zoe had excused herself to change out of the scrubs she was wearing. She took a few extra minutes longer than necessary so when she walked back to the kitchen the tea was done and her mom had poured the water over the tea bags in the mugs Zoe had taken down earlier.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why let me keep thinking that Ethan didn't love me?" Zoe asked softly, looking into her cup of tea.

"I wanted to tell you and it has nothing to do with you. I was embarrassed that I had let myself fall for some small town doctor older than I was when I had Ethan waiting back home. I wanted nothing more than to forget that cruise had ever happened and when you came along, it was easier to let Ethan believe he was your father."

"You shouldn't have been embarrassed about the person you love. I would have grown to understand that. You took my only chance of knowing who my biological father is and that's what I can't get over. You lied to protect yourself, I can get that," Zoe replied, pausing briefly to take a small sip of her still hot tea. "What were you so afraid of?" Zoe asked softly.

"Of losing you," Candice sighed with defeat letting her one fear out in the open for her daughter to know.

"What?" Zoe asked feeling ashamed that her mom would ever think that.

"If I would have told you about Harley, you would have wanted to meet him and you would have loved him, so much that you would have wanted to live with him" Candice explained.

"I can't say anything about that because I don't know him or what would have happened but I do know that I wouldn't want to live there permanently. Bluebell is wonderful but you'll always be my mom and I'm going to need you and I wouldn't have moved elsewhere back then," Zoe assured her. Candice smiled sipping at her tea.

Things were back to normal between mother and daughter. It was the ringing of Zoe's phone that interrupted them. Zoe gave her mom a sheepish look and hurried off to answer her phone.

"I can't talk long," came Wade's voice. Zoe smiled sitting down on her bed, letting Wade's voice wrapped her up in the embrace that she craved.

"I can't either," was Zoe's reply. "Working on things with my mom," she told him.

"How are things?" Wade asked resting against the side of the Rammer Jammer, relishing in the warm night air that surrounded him. He was playing a set with his band and the place was packed and mid way through the AC broke so being inside with that many people, the heat was starting to get to him.

"Things are getting better. Turns out she was just scared that I would leave her," Zoe told him. "And after thinking about it, I can't blame her for it. It'd be a waste to hold this over her head. I can't get over the lies she told me this minute, but with time I can," Zoe tacked on for him.

"I'm happy to hear that, Zo." She could hear the smile in his voice. "I really should be getting back in there," he told her, not really wanting to let her go.

"Same here," Zoe sighed lightly into the phone. "Three weeks," she told him.

"Three weeks, baby," he repeated. Love was sitting on the tip of his tongue but he wasn't about ready to confess his love to her over the phone, when he told her those three little words he was going to make sure that it was the perfect moment because she deserved that, but he would be adding his own little twist to it.

With a silent good-bye they hung up. Zoe was toying with her phone when she walked back to the kitchen to see her mom looking at the flowers that were slowly dying on her counter. "They're slowly becoming my favorite flowers," she told her mom softly.

"With notes like that, I can see why. I owe you an apology, Zoe. This Wade guy, I never gave him a fair chance. I was wrong to judge him and seeing just how much he cares for you, I'm sorry," she was saying glancing at the flowers once more. "I'll deal with Drew since it is my doing," Candice informed her daughter.

"Thank you and I care about Wade as much if not more than he does about me," Zoe stated with a smile on her face, her eyes shinning bright at the mere thought of Wade.

"I would love to meet him when he's in town again," Candice said putting the invite out on the table.

"I can make that work," Zoe told her mom, happy that she was at least trying.

"He actually called me," Candice told her. Zoe frowned wondering how Wade was able to get her mom's number and why he would be calling her for. It didn't take much to realize that he was giving them the push they needed to fix this thing between them. She couldn't find it in herself to be mad at him for doing that. "Just don't be too harsh on him when you talk to him again."

"I won't. Mom, if you don't have anywhere to be, I would really love for you to tell me everything you know about Harley," Zoe suggested. She wanted to know everything there was to know about the man that was her father.

"I can do that," Candice said with a smile plastered on her face. She could give up whatever it was her night called for to spend it with her daughter. "I'll make some more tea," Candice informed her daughter. Zoe nodded and perched herself on the couch quickly typing a message to send to Wade. **'I should be mad at you for calling my mom, but I'm not. Thank you. XOXO.'**

Mother and daughter made themselves comfortable in the living room as Candice told her daughter everything she knew about the father she had selfishly kept away from her daughter.

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 **To the guest reviewer and anyone else wanting to know about Wade's song, there will be a few more parts to it in the next chapter. Yes you will be seeing all of the song in a future chapter.**


	29. Chapter 29

**'You're beautiful, you're perfect,'** was the message on her phone when she woke up one morning, putting a smile on her face instantly. **_'You're too sweet,'_** was her reply. Within seconds there was a new message waiting to be read. **'I'm no saint, a sinner in this world, and then you appeared behind my drunken eyes.'**

"Oh Wade," Zoe breathed out, her eyes scanning over the words repeatedly. She didn't even bother with a reply instead she called him putting her phone on speaker.

"Morning calls are awesome and I enjoy them but what's up baby?" Wade asked the second he answered.

"Other than your last message I'm good," Zoe told him getting herself comfortable. "I know that it's your song and that I was your muse for it but Wade," she paused licking her lips placing a pillow on her lap. "You're not giving yourself enough credit." She couldn't stress that enough to him.

"Zo," he started to say, a hand going through his hair. "I'm not saying that I was a mess or even lost before ya came along it's more like you're this silver lining is all. You get that right? That everything is better now that I've got you in my life," he explained a little further for her.

"I get that I do because I feel the same way when it comes to you," she told him with a smile on her face. "I just don't want you to feel or even think that you weren't this great guy because you were, I just can't help that I bring the best of you out," she added as a joke after being serious.

"Someone's a bit cocky this morning," he laughed and Zoe could hear the smirk behind the laughter. "I wasn't this great guy, you know this, but I've been trying."

"You're wrong," she was quick to cut him off.

"Gee thanks Zo, what a way to make me feel better." The sarcasm rolling through the phone, Zoe rolled her eyes and it was something that Wade could picture and it did bring a hint of a smile to his face.

"I didn't mean that. You're wrong about not being this great guy. So what that you have acted out as a kid, but you put your dad before yourself and at times you have every right to be selfish."

"It was more than just acting out as a kid," he clarified for an unknown reason. "But thank you for your lovely vote of confidence," he told her.

"No thanks required, it's part of being the best girlfriend ever," she laughed into the phone failing to be serious.

"Do you know what else part of being the best girlfriend ever is?" He asked with amusement laced with his voice. Zoe hummed into the phone getting up. "Telling me what you're wearing," he husked out. Zoe bit her lip feeling the blood rushing to her face.

"Nice try," she told him walking to the bathroom to start the shower.

"You're such a…" he was in the process of saying when he heard the water turn on, a smirk coming to his face. "I don't need to know now. You gonna be thinking about me while you shower?" He asked sexily.

Zoe giggled getting the water set to the right temperature. "As wonderful as that sounds, not gonna happen, this little phone call is going to make me late if I don't hurry up," she told him in a teasing tone.

"You're mean Dr. Hart," he pouted into the phone. A smirk taking over his face mere seconds later. "I'll be thinking about you."

"Ya know I'm not sure if I should be flattered or disgusted by that statement," she told him with a small shake of her head, laughter in her voice.

"You should be flattered, baby," came his voice. "I'll let you go so you're not late."

After a goodbye and promises to call later in the night when they were both free, they hung up tossing their phones to the side as they got ready for the day that was waiting for them.

Wade was walking into the Rammer Jammer to start his shift when his phone started to ring. He frowned stepping off to the side pulling his phone out. He was certain that is wasn't Zoe that was calling him; he didn't think something with the hospital had happened. His frowned deepened even more seeing the unknown number that was flashing across his phone screen.

"Hello?" He answered. Hearing the other person on the phone his frown turned into a smile and he jumped at the chance. Two months to be with Zoe in the same city, he'd be crazy not to take that. But that wasn't what the offer was for and whether he was dating Zoe or not he still would have jumped at what was hanging in front of him.

After spending the morning getting things cleared up with work, his band mates and his dad, which had included a long talk with not only Earl but with Lavon who had promised that he would keep an eye on Earl he was finally off to New York after he made sure he had what he needed and it had all fit into one small bag, with him still having clothes and other things at Zoe's place. This was his chance to surprise Zoe.

 _ **'Sorry, I have to work a double shit tonight, xoxo.'** _ Was the message waiting for him when he got off the plane. A smirk crossed his features as he walked outside to hail a cab. There was no way that he was going to rent a car when he didn't know where it was he was going. That was a disaster waiting to happen. He told the cabbie where he was headed and what seemed like minutes later he was paying the guy and climbing out of what he thought was a very overpriced ride to hell.

With his best charming smile on his face, he walked up to the nurse's station. "I was wondering if you could maybe page Dr. Hart for me," he said, leaning on the desk, letting his bag fall to the floor with a soft thump that echoed around the quiet room.

"One moment please," she told him bashfully checking something on her computer. "I'm sorry sir, but she's in surgery right now, it'll be another hour or so before she's finished up. Would you like me to pass a message along to her?"

"No that's alright, I'll try to catch her when she's done," Wade said. "Thank you though." With that he picked his bag back up and tried to think of what it was he could do until Zoe was done with the surgery she was in.

His finding out what to do until his girlfriend was done found him sitting in a chair in the waiting room with a pen and paper as he tried to write a song with imaginary cords in his head. He had no idea how long he had been sitting there when he had to look up and rub at his eyes. He did have a page of lyrics sitting in his lap with a handful of words and lines crossed out with other words replacing them making more sense.

"You look like you could use some coffee." A smile crossed his face hearing that voice. "I didn't believe my friends when I was told that I had a totally sexy mystery man asking and waiting for me," she giggled lightly, sitting next to him, handing him the cup of coffee. Wade looked at her raising an eyebrow as he took a sip of the hot coffee that was actually good. "It's from the break room. What are you doing here?" She asked.

"That explains why it's good and not disgusting. I'm going to be here for the next two months, I had to come a couple weeks early because they want me to," he told her in a duh tone, earning himself a push on the shoulder. "They main act had to drop out with personal issues and they had to go back to their home state wherever that is."

"What about the rest of your band?" She asked her tiredness being replaced with happiness.

"They're here somewhere," he told her. "I just had to see you."

"Such a charmer," she joked getting up. "I don't want you waiting all night for me here," she was telling him when she pulled out her keys for her place. "Just make sure you're awake when I get there to let me in."

"I make no promises," he joked, taking the keys and looking around before capturing her lips in a quick kiss. Zoe smiled pulling away a blush on her cheeks.

"I'll call you when I leave here." Wade nodded, getting his things in order.

He shook his head, walking up to Zoe's apartment door the keys in his hands. He had thought about staying with Zoe it made the most sense to him and he didn't think Zoe would have a problem with it. That wasn't why he went to see her; he just had to see her after being away from her for so long. For her to hand over her keys took him off guard, but he was happy that she was starting to fully trust him again.


	30. Chapter 30

**A little FYI Wade's song for Zoe wasn't suppose to be in this chapter, it was actually planned for the next chapter, but I was writing this chapter and it kinda just happened. Also I don't have a name for the song, suggestions are welcomed. I'm not a song writer so it might be a horrible song and I'm sorry if you guys don't like it. Enjoy this chapter and lastly thank you to everyone that is still sticking with me on this one.**

* * *

Wade was awake when Zoe got home hours before the sun was set to rise. They didn't say anything to each other letting their tongues have a proper meeting as their bodies became one. Laying in the after glow under the covers they felt whole basking in the love that seemed to fill the room. That's how they had fallen asleep with Zoe's head resting on Wade's chest, her hand resting on his stomach as he held her close.

Zoe woke up late in the morning to an empty and cold bed. She knew it wasn't something that she had dreamt up, Wade being here with her. She smiled picking his shirt up off the floor hearing the tune that floated through the air. She walked out to the living room sitting on the coffee table in front of Wade, who smiled placing his guitar off to the side.

"Don't stop on my account," she told him softly. He shook his head, his reply was moving to the edge of the couch placing his callused hands on her bare thighs. She placed her hands on his shoulders and let her lips find his for a good morning kiss.

"I was waiting to go out for breakfast but you slept longer than I was anticipating," Wade told her, their foreheads resting together.

"You could've woken me up," she giggled, playing with the stubble on his chin.

"You needed your sleep," he winked. He had seen how wore out Zoe was last night at the hospital, he wouldn't have had sex with her last night but he couldn't stop himself once he felt Zoe against him, the passion and the heat pulling him under until he had been satisfied. So when he woke this morning to see her sleeping peacefully he placed a soft kiss to her temple and let her sleep because he knew just how much she needed every bit of shut eye she could get. Zoe rolled her eyes at him. "Why don't you get ready and we can go get some lunch," he told her.

"Only if you come take a look at something in the bathroom first," she told him seductively.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" He asked with a smirk, letting Zoe take his hand and lead him to the bathroom. She looked back at him giving him a coy smile.

Without another word moans and groans filtered out of the closed bathroom door.

An hour later found them at Zoe's favorite little café right around the corner from her place. Little touches and looks were shared as they enjoyed their meal. Laughs shared as they got reacquainted with each other over time missed.

Zoe felt happy to have Wade here with her to spend days with him, to have two whole months with him. It was what she wanted since before she had agreed to date him. The long distance relationship was wonderful and it worked but she wanted more with him and now that it was finally in front of her face it was overwhelming and her anxiety was getting the best of her.

Wade could see that something wasn't sitting right with his girlfriend. He hadn't put much thought into spending two months in New York with her, when it came about he wasn't going to pass the chance up and it felt right to be here with her with an expiration date days away from now. He couldn't find anything that he needed to freak out about. Reaching across the table after wiping the grease from his fries off his fingers, he placed his hand on top of hers. Zoe smiled, turning her hand over, her fingers lacing with his.

"Talk to me, Zo," he told her softly. She shook her head, refusing to tell him, she didn't want to bring down their day together. "I can't help you if you don't let me in. This is the wrong time to keep things from me, Zo. You talk about trust and it goes both ways," he told her his thumb drawing lazy circles on her hand.

"I know," she told him letting a small puff of air out. "I'm happy that you're here, over the moon happy that we have days upon days to be together. It's what I want, I do, but I worry that something horrible is going to happen in this time together and I don't want that. We've been so good since last time," she paused, taking a deep breath. If she didn't say anything about Tansy than they wouldn't have to talk about that nightmare again, she was over that whole ordeal. "And I don't know if I'll be able to let you walk away once the time comes," she finished in a very low whisper. Wade had a hard time hearing her but he had.

"Zoe," he started out moving to sit next to her, his arm going around her his fingers staying connected to hers. "We can't stop things from coming up between us, it's going to happen, but it's how we as a couple can overcome them that will make us stronger," he told her, kissing her temple and letting his head rest against hers. I love you was right there on the tip of his tongue and it would squish any doubt that she had, but he wasn't ready to blurt those words out to her yet. "Truthfully, I don't think I'll be able to walk away when the time comes either. I can stay at a hotel if it makes things easier for you," he suggested.

Zoe was quick to shake her head. "I don't want that and we need this time to see if we can handle living together, Wade," she told him a hint of a smile on her red lips. "Hotels are overrated," she stated, leaning into him.

"That they are," he smirked.

It didn't matter what it was they did around the city, as long as they were together sharing the experience together. They roamed the city a dull moment was unheard of between them. They got back to Zoe's place there feet sore after spending the day on them. She couldn't think of anything better later that night as they laid on the couch the news filling the room as his fingers worked their magic on her sore feet.

They had gotten into a rhythm of things. While Zoe worked, Wade would practice with the band making sure they knew every song. There were days that he would show up on her lunch break. He was skeptical at first of sharing his song about Zoe with them. It was private for him and Zoe and he didn't need his band mates to mock him for it. And to his relief they didn't. Most of them have written a song or two about some female, and it was a rare occasion when they would play those songs but they would, but this one was different and they could see it, even Meatball, who smiled and made no comments about it. Wade would question him about it later and Meatball putting a hand on his shoulder told him, _"Dude you love her, a blind rat could see that. Who am I to judge you for falling in love?"_ Hearing those words had Wade releasing a breath of relief and practice went on.

It was days later and Zoe had gotten so caught up in work that she didn't have time to go home and change before heading to watch Wade play. After the busy day she had she was more than happy to spend the night out. She couldn't drink much and she should really be at home sleeping but she would much rather go and watch Wade play. She had caught his eye the moment she entered the place, dim light and all. She blushed watching the smirk that appeared on his face. Getting a club soda she found Gigi at a table flirting with some black haired guy.

"About time you got here," Gigi slurred out already drunk. Zoe gave her a smile and turned her attention back to the stage where the song they were playing was coming to an end.

"This next song is a new one and it's special to me. Zoe this one is for you," he said making eye contact with her. **_' _I was drowning in this world,__ _a dying man, until you walked into my life,_ _your brown eyes showing me the light,_ _your smile showed me the way,'_ ** he sang never looking away from a very blushing Zoe. She had known bits and pieces of this song from the flowers and the texts she had gotten from him, but this was the first time she was hearing the song for the first time. ** _'My frozen soul slowly melting from the laugh playing on your lips,_ _I'm no good,_ _no good for you,_ _I'm broken,_ _broken,_ _damaged and unfixable beyond repair,_ _tossed a side, forgotten about,_ **_**until you walked into my life.'**_ Hearing the lyrics falling from his lips made tears come to her eyes. ** _'You are perfect,_ _perfect in every way,_ _you are the light in my life; it's you that keeps me goin',_ _I was drowning in this world,_ _a dying man, until you walked into my life,_ _your brown eyes showing me the light,_ **_**your smile showed me the way.** '_ It was a steady stream of tears; they were ones of joy and not sorrow, a smile sitting on her lips. ** _'You are beautiful, beautiful to me,_ _you are perfect, perfect,_ _I was drowning in this world,_ _a dying man, you walked in a halo resting upon your head.'_ ** She closed her eyes swaying to the beat of the music in her chair, letting the words wash over her. **_' _I'm no saint, a sinner in this world,__ _and you appeared behind my drunken eyes,_ _changing my life,_ _I was drowning in this world,_ _a dying man, until you walked into my life,_ _your brown eyes showing me the light,_ _your smile showed me the way.'_** She opened her eyes to look at him to see that he had yet to look away from her. She could see the love in his eyes shinning brighter than any of the lights on the stage as chords floated through the room. ** _'An' baby I'm sorry for taking that smile away, it was that smile that made me, that made me,'_** Wade sang letting the last note drift off into space.

If Zoe could jump up from her spot right there and tackle him on stage she would have. But seeing as they were taking a five minute break she didn't have to disrupt his set. He didn't even have a chance to stand before her a nervous wreck waiting to find out what she thought about the song; no instead he had to catch her midair when she jumped on him, sending him tumbling backwards with the force she used. She attacked him with her lips, leaving kisses all over his face.

"I take it you liked the song," he chuckled; sitting down in the chair she had abandoned, settling Zoe in his lap.

"I loved it Wade; no one has ever done anything like that for me. Thank you," she whispered against his lips. He wasn't sure how to reply to that. The song was his way of saying sorry to her, that he needed her around, she made him a better person. He was worried when he first started to play the song, seeing the tears in her eyes, he thought the worst and he was relieved to see that she loved the song. Brushing the thank you away didn't seem right so instead he let his lips tell her the words he wasn't ready to say yet, his tongue running along her lip, coaxing her tongue to come out and play.


	31. Chapter 31

"Don't make me do this," Wade whined behind Zoe, his chin resting on her shoulder as she finished getting herself ready. "I'll do whatever it is you want me to do," he begged. "Please baby, it's my one night off in days and I just want to stay in and relax with you," he pouted.

Zoe locked eyes with her boyfriend in the mirror. "That sounds lovely it does, but she's already here and you doing this means so much for me, please do this for me," she begged him using her puppy eyes and he couldn't resist those eyes, heck he had a hard time resisting her altogether.

With a dramatic sigh, he spoke up, "okay, but you owe me for this. Do you not remember the last time I was in the same room as her?" Wade asked, burying his head into his girlfriend's neck. Zoe held her laugh at bay, but Wade could feel her shake. Kissing her neck he looked up. "I thought so," he replied moving away to get his dress shirt on.

"To be fair, we weren't even dating then, just friends," Zoe said finishing up and turning to look at him. "And she found us in a compromising position."

"But technically we could still count it as us dating, just not ya know officially," he responded, popping the buttons through the right hole.

"Either way," she started out; getting his tie which he had already whined about when he was informed they would be going to dinner with Candice because she wanted to know the guy her daughter was dating. He wasn't very fond of the idea but it was Zoe and he tried for hours to get out of it and nothing seemed to work, so here he was being forced to dress up in clothes he detested for his girlfriend. "This time won't be like that. I owe you for this, I really do," she told him, tying his tie for him.

"I can think of a few things," he husked out, grabbing her by the hips and hauling her against his body, his mouth devouring hers. The moans that escaped deep within her throat, he swallowed.

"Are two ready yet?" Candice asked, walking the short distance down the hall to where her daughter's room is at. "Oh my…" Candice gasped staring at the couple that quickly jumped apart, Zoe bright red with embarrassment and Wade looking at his feet, muttering under his breath that the night was doomed. Zoe smacked him in the gut lightly.

"Let's go, shall we?" She asked, quickly checking her reflection in the mirror as she grabbed her purse. Candice nodded and made a hasty exit. Zoe turned to Wade wiping away the smudge of lipstick from his lips. "I'm sorry," she told him.

"Not your fault, Zo," he said, pushing a few strands of hair behind her ear. "I let myself get carried away, it happens whenever I'm with you," he winked, walking out of the room. Zoe rolled her eyes willing the blood to leave her face.

On the ride to the restaurant Wade was in amusement being in a town car. The atmosphere was one filled with awkwardness. Wade and Zoe talked in hushed tones. Candice let them, sticking to herself.

Once at the restaurant they were seated quickly and the more seconds that passed by the more uncomfortable Wade felt. More than once Zoe had to give him a look for tugging at the collar of his shirt. Looking through the menu he couldn't believe the price for each dish. Looking over at Zoe he could see that she enjoyed this lavish lifestyle but he knew that she liked the simple things in life as well if not better. All she wanted was someone to love her unconditionally; it was the same thing he wanted out of life.

"What are your exact intentions with my daughter?" Candice asked, the second their food had been placed in front of them.

"She's special," Wade smiled finding Zoe's hand under the table. "I want to spend as much time as I can with her, I can't say that I'm going to marry her one day because we know it doesn't work like that, I don't know what the future holds for us, but I want to spend my time with her, keeping a smile on her face and protecting her from the hurt and pain that's out there, because she doesn't deserve that," Wade finished, his eyes moving to those brown eyes of his girlfriend. "Marriage one day would be nice, but I can't promise something that I don't know," he told her, seeing the questions in her eyes. Zoe gave him a warm smile.

That answer had left Candice speechless for a moment. It wasn't long before she had her bearings back. "That was lovely and you're right, promise are one of those things that can't be kept, they end up getting broken more than ever staying true," she told them. "Wade do you want kids?" Candice asked, making Wade choke on his drink.

"Mom!" Zoe warned.

"It's alright, Zo," Wade said once he was able to breathe again. "I do want kids one day."

"You're safe when you're with my daughter?" Zoe shook her head, looking down wanting to be anywhere else in the world right now.

"Yes ma'am," Wade stated, squirming in his seat.

Dinner was filled with questions making both Zoe and Wade uncomfortable and awkward. The more Zoe protested and tried to get the conversation going in a different direction Candice was there firing away with another question that really should have been avoided. Wade and Zoe felt relieved seeing the check brought out to them. They were ready for this night to be over with, Wade more so than Zoe.

"It's still early so we're going to catch a movie," Zoe told her mom ready to be away from her and anymore questions that she had left to ask. Candice offered them the car, but Wade was there to refuse it saying he really wanted to walk and see the city at night, really he didn't care about seeing the city at night again, he just wanted away from Candice.

"Oh alright," she finally relented. "Wade I wasn't your biggest fan. I didn't want someone like you to be with my daughter, to me you weren't good enough and I don't think I'll ever find a guy good enough for my daughter, but you make her happy and you played a big part in getting her to talk to me again, things have always been rocky with Zoe and I want that to change and you've played a big part in helping us out with that. You're a good guy with a good heart and you make my daughter happy and because of that, you're good in my book," Candice said giving them both hugs.

"Thanks," Wade said, scratching the back of his neck. "I only want the best for Zoe," he responded, pulling his girlfriend closer kissing her head. Candice nodded climbing into her the car, the driver shutting the door behind her. "Ya know its true right?" He questioned as they walked off. Zoe nodded her head, kissing his cheek. "Are you really going to make me go to the movies dressed like this?"

"No," she giggled. "We can find something at home to watch, wearing as little clothing as we like," she told him in a seductive tone. Wade picked his speed up; he smiled hearing the laughter that fell from his girlfriend's lip. He may not have enjoyed the grilling he had gotten at dinner or spending it in a fancy restaurant where they served very little. Put a cold pizza and his girlfriend in his arms in a bed they shared, that sounded like the best way to end any day.


	32. Chapter 32

Zoe walked into her place after her final night shift for the week. She enjoyed coming home to Wade over the past two and half weeks. The first week and a half he had been good at picking up after himself, but it was like he finally felt comfortable at her place and he'd leave his things scattered around her place, at first seeing his things mixed in with hers made her stomach flip and tighten but now it got on her last nerve. The last thing she wanted to do was clean up after him after she had spent the last 18 hours on her feet.

After changing for bed she fell into bed too exhausted to wake Wade up and deal with him and the fight that was going to follow suit. It could wait until she was fully rested. The only problem, when she woke up he was gone, a note on his pillow saying he had rehearsal all day and he wouldn't be back until after his show ended. She sighed pulling the blanket over her head, it was her day off and she had plans of spending it in bed. She was going to leave the mess in the apartment and make Wade pick it up, she wasn't his mother or his maid. He was a man now and he could pick up after himself, it wasn't very hard to do.

She had every intention of being awake when he got home, but half way through a movie a little after 10 at night she could feel herself start to drift off and she gave in. She woke to the smell of pancakes wafting through the air. She got up running a brush through her hair before emerging from the room. She smiled at Wade pouring herself a cup of coffee. She stood on her toes to plant a kiss on his lips. She may be mad at him, but she missed seeing him over the last few days when their schedules didn't line up.

"We really need to talk after breakfast," she informed him, sipping her coffee as she leaned against the counter next to the stove.

"Why's that?" He questioned glancing at her as he flipped a pancake.

"You'll find out after we've eaten," she replied. She didn't want to fight with him so it was easier to put it off a few more minutes than to dive right into a fight.

He wanted more than that from her, but he could see that she was hell bent on not telling him until they had eaten so pushing her on this was out of the question. He didn't want to fight with her on one of the days that he was able to spend a few extra minutes with her. So he finished the pancakes that were cooking on the pan and dished them both up a plate of food. Zoe got the butter and syrup from the fridge and together they sat down to eat.

With things cleaned up and any words barely spoken all morning, Zoe placed her cup in the sink turning to look at her boyfriend. "I like having you and there's no better feeling than to come home to you, Wade," she told him. He could feel the but that was coming on and he was biting his tongue to hear what the next few words were she was going to say. He could feel the storm brewing all through breakfast. "But I don't enjoy coming home to a pigsty," she told him motioning to the mess that was all around them. "The last thing I want to do is come home after spending the countless hours on my feet to clean up after you." She didn't want this to turn into a fight, but seeing the dark look on his face she knew then and there that she wasn't going to be getting her wish.

"You act like this whole mess is mine, when's its not," he told her. "Sure most of it is, but it's yours as well, so don't go putting the blame on me," he told her.

She looked around trying to figure out what part of the mess it was that she had made, she couldn't see it. It was his clothes that were scattered around the place, it was his sheet music crumpled up and tossed everywhere except the trashcan. "Then tell ya what, Wade, you clean up your mess and what's left over I'll clean up," she told him. "I can't live like this," she sighed. "I'm not your maid that you can fuck as you please, Wade. And I'm not your Mother, it shouldn't be that hard to pick your crap up once you're done with it," she told him adding salt to the wounds she had dug.

"I don't expect you to live like this," he told her. "You're right, you're not my Mother, you could never be her," he snapped, going to storm off. "The maid would've already had this shit picked up and ready for an encore," he smarted off.

"Really funny," she retorted storming past him. He cringed hearing the door slam behind her. He fell onto the couch. Maybe he had been out of line with what he had said, but he was expecting her to start bitching at him for the little mess he had left laying around. He had every intention of cleaning the mess up but he couldn't find the time to do so. He had to remember that this wasn't his place and he had to be respectful of Zoe's place. He knew he should have let it go, that he really didn't have a reason to get mad at her for.

Zoe walked out of the bedroom ignoring Wade as she got her purse and checked that she had everything that she needed. Without sparing a glance in his direction she headed out the door.

He sighed, his head falling to his hands. He was the one to mess up. He hadn't done anything to actually help her out around the place. Just took up space in her apartment. He didn't realize that it was on her nerves that much. Getting up because he didn't want to waste anymore time on fixing the mess he had created, he got straight to work.

Zoe was able to act like everything was good while she was at work; a few patients had actually managed to make her laugh. It wasn't until after her shift was over with and she was heading home that she sighed wishing she could be doing something else so she wouldn't have to go back and face Wade. His comment about the maid had stung more than she was willing to admit.

She unlocked the door to her place closing her eyes to embrace herself for the fight that she was certain was going to follow suit. Instead she heard soft music being played. Cracking an eye open she looked inside the place to see it was lit with candle light. She walked into her place shutting and locking the door behind her. With a smile on her face she walked to the kitchen to see if she could find her boyfriend.

"Hi," he greeted her, pulling a chair out for her at the table.

"Hi," she replied back, taking the offered seat. "What is this?" She asked, taking the napkin from her plate and laying it on her lap.

"An apology dinner, I was out of line earlier and I'm sorry, I'm not use to living with anyone especially my girlfriend," he told her. "I'm gonna do my best to help you out," he told her, taking her hand in his across the table.

"I accept your apology, Wade," she replied with a smile. It wasn't anything to really get mad about or hold over his head. He had went out of his way to make this up to her and she could appreciate that.


	33. Chapter 33

"Who dare I ask went with you before I happened to come along?" Wade asked fixing the black tie. He wasn't too keen on wearing a black tux but he was loving the view he was given of his girlfriend in the off white lace gown that pushed her breasts up and showed the right amount of tanned skin that glowed. He wouldn't be jealous when people stared at her tonight because they really couldn't see what was underneath the dress she wore as he knew exactly what was under it and he couldn't wait till they got home so he could ravish her. He'd be the one wearing a cocky grin on his face when they see Zoe walk in on his arm tonight. "On second thought, I don't want to know," he told her. Who she went with before him didn't matter and he honestly didn't want to find a way to be upset with her or himself tonight.

"They weren't quite as handsome as you are," Zoe told him, standing up. She smiled watching as he fussed with his tie. "Need help?" She asked moving behind him. He frowned at her in the mirror. Lightly laughing she gently pushed him around reaching up and to do his tie. "I promise we'll be there like two hours and we can go," she told him.

"Zo, it's okay. Tonight is about the kids," he replied kissing her forehead. Any other reason that saw him getting this dressed up he would complain about make a small appearance, but tonight was about the children's hospital. He wanted to do his part in it all. It was for the kids. "This is your thing and I don't want to make you leave because I'm uncomfortable, I'll suck it up," he told her with a smile.

"Thank you for this Wade. I swear tomorrow you can pick everything we do," she told him, wrapping her arms around him. She wasn't worried that Wade wouldn't fit in at the function to raise money, she was nervous that something even on her part was going to go wrong. Tonight was important for her.

"Anything?" He questioned her, bending down to catch her lips with his own. She nodded breaking the kiss. It was her day off and he didn't need to be anywhere until 10 tomorrow night.

On the ride to the venue Zoe filled Wade in on everything that he could expect to happen tonight. The more she told him the more sweat collected on his palms. This wasn't his kind of thing, it wasn't part of his world, it was part of Zoe's world and Zoe was now a part of his life and there was nothing that he wouldn't go to for her. Taking deep breaths and thinking of other thing didn't help keep his nerves at bay. Before he knew it they were pulling up to where the function was going to take place. Stepping from the car he glanced at the building, giving a low whistle. Just the outside of the place looked expensive. Stepping aside he turned to help Zoe out, holding his arm out for her. Zoe smiled slipping her hand to rest in the crock of his bent arm. With smiles plastered on their faces, they headed inside the place, a doorman pulling the door open for them.

The second they entered the hall the function was actually being held in, Zoe was swept away by a fellow doctor. Zoe had shot him an apologetic look but he smiled and sent her on his way, he was a grown man he could hold his own. Stuffing his hands in his pants pockets he walked over to check out what it was they were auctioning off in the silent action, there were tickets to a few different games that he would love to have, but he passed them by, tossing a bid in on the tickets to a Broadway show. He looked around debating on what to do next he headed over to the open bar that was set up, needing a drink. Wade scanned what little booze was behind the counter, he was okay with drinking whisky or a scotch, but he could really use a beer.

"There's always a handful of people that look for this," the bartender told him, pulling a bottle of beer out from under the counter. "It comes in handy," he tacked on pouring Wade a glass.

"Drinking that stuff wouldn't be so bad, but a beer is a blessing," Wade said, taking the glass of beer. He took a drink and looked around his eyes catching the brown ones of Zoe. She smiled at him and sent a little wave his way. He waved back, scanning the rest of the room to see who else was there not that he would know anyone. Getting a refill on his beer he headed into the throng of the people ready to face the night waiting for him.

Zoe finally able to pull herself away from the group that had pulled her in the second she walked through the door, made her way over to the bar after making a little detour to the table where the silent action was taking place at. She really did feel bad for dragging Wade along to this. She put a bid in on tickets to a football game where he'd be sitting on the 50 yard line. Getting to the bar she gladly took a glass of champagne and downed the contents in one gulp scanning the room of people.

"He's over there," the bartender informed her, refilling her glass. Zoe stopped scanning the room to look back at the bartender an eyebrow raised. "He was over here a few times already tonight and he couldn't tear his eyes away from you," the guy informed her. Zoe gave him a smile and headed off in the direction she was told.

She stood back and watched him laugh with the guys that he was standing with. She didn't know who they were, but that didn't matter as she was able to see that Wade was having fun and not bored out of his mind. She had went to walk over to him when he shook his head, said his goodbyes and joined Zoe, putting an arm around her waist and quickly walking off. Laughing Zoe asked him what his deal was. Looking behind them to make sure that they hadn't been followed them; he stopped to whisper in her ear afraid they were somewhere close by listening in on what he was saying.

"Dudes crazy, he invited us along to Aspen on his annual holiday trip to talk numbers," he told her.

"It is good to see you making friends," she told him with a joking tone. "But we're not going on his trip to Aspen, for one it is months away still and two just no," she told him. Wade pulled her in for hug. Now he didn't need to come up with any kind of an excuse, Zoe saying no was all he needed, he was sure that Chris would track him down later in the night to figure out if they could go with him or not.

"Maybe you could point me in the direction of less creepy friends I could make," he replied with a glint in his eyes. Zoe laughed, shaking her head.

"I hate to intrude, but Zoe you look stunning," Katie said, pulling her friend in for a hug. "Rocker guy, so much hotter in person," she staged whispered.

"I like him in plaid," Zoe commented, moving back into Wade's embrace.

"That plaid gets her every time," he smirked. "You must be Katie," he said, holding his hand out.

"You'd be right on that," she told him, shaking his hand. "Do you have a brother?" She asked. She kept on talking never once noticing how Wade tensed up. Zoe's hand rubbing his back wasn't helping him. "Seriously if you do and he happens to be single, send him my way, would you?" She finally stopped to ask.

"We'll see," Zoe told her friend. "Hey Wade, do you mind getting me some more champagne?" She asked. Wade nodded, kissing her temple and made his way over to the bar.

"Did I say something wrong?" Katie asked. She had noticed the light mood had turned darker.

Zoe hesitated a moment, she didn't want to put Wade's personal problems out there for everyone to know about, but the topic of his brother was a huge problem to go spreading around. "You didn't Katie, so please don't take it personal, it's just Wade has a rocky relationship with his brother is all," Zoe told her friend without giving it all away. She was already afraid that she had said too much when it came to Jesse to start out with.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset him," Katie said.

Zoe assured her that it was more than okay. Making sure that her friend was going to be okay, Zoe went off in search of her boyfriend. She hadn't made it very far when she was pulled onto the dance floor. She had yelped softly in surprise when she was pulled, thinking the worst until she spun around to see Wade's soft green eyes lit up. They danced to the soft tones of the music being played. Wade held her close, his lips next to her ear.

"I love you, Zoe," he whispered, pushing her out for a spin and pulling her back against himself. He didn't care if it was too soon into their relationship, they had been together for nearly 4 months now and it just felt right. He had learned from a young age that the ones you love could be gone and to tell them you love them as much as possible, he just hadn't had anyone in his life to say those three words to.

She could have told them that she knew, that she had overheard him and Tansy talking, that she knew because he did write a song for her, but she didn't, instead she locked her eyes with his softly replying with, "I love you too, Wade."


	34. Chapter 34

"What's going on?" Zoe asked walking into her apartment to see it overtaken by a bunch of people. Dealing with what seemed to be an after party at nearly 3 in the morning was the very last thing she had expected to come home to see. The party was one thing but watching your boyfriend nearly throw some half naked floozy off of his lap was the one thing she had never expected to see. Not from Wade.

"A little gathering," Wade slurred. Zoe nodded her head, noticing the faint smudge of lipstick on her boyfriend's cheek. "Come join the fun," he said, taking her hand. Zoe pulled her hand free from his grasp. "What's wrong?" He questioned sobering up rather quickly.

"I want these people out of my house, Wade," she sternly told him, heading to the bedroom.

She leaned against the closed door willing the awful thoughts of Wade cheating on her from her head. She closed her eyes keeping the extra moisture in. With a soft sniffle, she moved to the bed, removing her shoes as she went. Pain crept up inside of her, shattering her heart more than she had ever thought possible. It had been a week and half since they had said I love you, everything was good between them.

Wade not wanting to upset Zoe anymore than he had already done sent everyone home. Wanting to give her a few minutes to cool down he started to clean up the mess that was made on his account. It was only supposed to be the band that came back to the apartment, he missed hanging out with them when they weren't working or perfecting the songs. The guys were his buddies; he wasn't expecting them to invite a couple dozen people each. He had planned to have everyone out of the apartment before Zoe got home, but he had obviously forgotten to keep an eye on the time.

"Zoe?" He questioned softly stepping into the room. Seeing her lying on her side curled up holding a pillow close to her chest with makeup streaks running down her face, broke him. All he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her. He had every intention of doing just that, sliding into bed behind her.

"Get off of me!" She hissed through her teeth, feeling his arms go around her midsection.

Feeling her tense up under his touch mixed in with her words he moved away from her. She couldn't possible be that mad at him for having a few people over. He sat on the bed trying to think if there was anything else that he might have forgotten, but there was nothing. She was going to be upset with him, that had been a given but he hadn't thought that it would this hostile between them.

"Who was she?" Zoe asked softly, closing her eyes tighter. It already hurt but this needed to be done. She couldn't stay with a guy that had cheated on her. Their relationship couldn't be helped; he had cheated which meant that he was getting bored with her.

Wade had barely heard the words she had spoken, not only had they been quiet but he could hear the heartbreak with each pronunciation. That one little question confused him beyond heck. There was no one except for Zoe. "I don't know what you're talking about, Zoe. There's only you, I wouldn't be stupid enough to ruin what I have with you," he responded with.

"Don't you dare lie to me, Wade," she said through the tears, moving to sit up, not wanting to look at him she kept her back to him. It hurt too much to know that he had cheated on her, the evidence clearly on his face, she saw with her own two eyes that woman that was on his lap, she could smell the cheap perfume on him, but he was lying to her about it all and it made her feel sick.

"I'm not lying to you," he told her his anger starting to come out. "Where'd you get that crazy idea from anyway?"

"Take a look in the mirror than come up with a better story," she hissed at him. "Did you not think that you would get caught?" She asked him each word perfectly wrapped in pain.

With a frown on his face he headed to the bathroom to look in the mirror. He froze in horror seeing the lipstick on his face. There was no way that he could talk himself out of this one; he was screwed no matter what he said. Images flashed before his closed eyes. He had to try to clear this whole mess up. "I can explain it," he said, stepping from the bathroom, wiping the spot clean. "It's not what you're thinking, you're making this whole thing bigger than it really is," he told her moving to sit on the bed next to her.

"What's there to explain? There's evidence on your face of your indiscretion Wade. I saw her on your lap. I don't want to hear the lies that are rolling around in your head," she told him dejectedly. She was tired and in pain from the events she had walked in on. Hearing words he didn't mean to make himself the innocent one in all of this were words she didn't want to hear, didn't have the strength to hear them.

"You won't even hear me out?" He asked in shock. "I love you Zoe, I wouldn't do anything to hurt you," he pleaded with her.

"The evidence says otherwise, Wade," she told him taking a deep breath. This next part was going to be hard. "That's what makes this whole thing hard Wade because I was head over heels in love with you, I thought we had what it took to make it till the end, but I was wrong because this is the end, isn't it?" She questioned, finally looking at him.

Wade's heart broke further seeing her red puffy eyes. What he wouldn't do to take that pain away. "No, not if you hear me out. This can be fixed Zoe, I promise you," he begged her, needing this one chance to prove that he hadn't done anything wrong, that she was mistaken on the events that took place.

"But it can't be fixed," she told him shaking her head. "Just leave, please," she pleaded with him.

"Please Zoe, hear me out," he tried once more. Zoe shook her head, not wanting to hear the excuse that he had finally settled on. "You're going to end something great because you won't let me explain?" He questioned in disbelief. "Unbelievable!" He exclaimed getting off the bed. "Why won't you hear me out? Do you want this to end?"

"No, Wade I don't want this to end. But I don't want to hear the lie you came up with either. You've hurt me enough for a lifetime," she countered back with. "Why should I listen to your explanation when I saw it with my own eyes? Words lie, Wade," she told him gaining control of her emotions for a moment.

"Not everything you see can be believed either, Zoe. Just remember that you ruined what we had because you couldn't handle hearing the truth, this is on you, not me," he told her, walking out of the bedroom.

Zoe fell back on the bed letting the sorrow and tears overtake her body. The evidence spoke for itself. She believed what she saw; she could see just how sorry he was in his green orbs. That was all the conviction she needed. She wasn't even mad at Wade, she was mad at herself. She put herself in a place where she could get hurt, where she knew better. But she wanted to believe that Wade wouldn't do that to her. She'd learned her lesson the hard way, not again.

He should've known that he would never be enough for Zoe that she had been trying to find a way to end it. He had thought she was happy, that they were happy, turns out that wasn't the case. He hated that he couldn't see that from the beginning. He had thought Zoe was different, he had taken a chance with her and that chance hadn't paid off, maybe he was better off alone in this world.

"Cheer up boy, not everything is as it seems." Wade looked at the silver haired man sitting next to him on the bus bench. "It may hurt now, but one day you'll look back on this day and you'll see that it changed your life for the better," the old man tacked on with a smile.

"I don't know about that," Wade muttered at the guy that seemed to be off his rocker.

"Have a little faith, my friend." Wade snorted at that, shaking his head getting up.

"I'm all out of faith," Wade retorted, stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking off. The old mans words playing on a loop in his head. Wade laughed hauntingly to himself and walked, letting his feet lead him astray this once.

* * *

 _ **FYI this chapter was actually supposed to be filled with a violent outburst dealing with Jesse. That didn't happen as you can see, just please don't hate me for doing this. I promise things will get better in a few chapters, but this has been planned for a while now. I know what happened with Wade, but what do you guys think? Did he cheat or is he innocent in this whole thing?**_


	35. Chapter 35

"What can I do for you?" Zoe asked opening her door. She had planned on ignoring the constant knocking, but it was starting to annoy her. And to see Meatball was the cause of the annoying knocking hadn't helped her mood any.

"If Wade knew I was here he'd kill me," Meatball started out saying entering Zoe's house. He had enough decency not to say what he had come to say where her neighbors could hear. "And before you ask or accuse me of coming here on Wade's behalf, I'm not. He didn't put me up to this, I came on my own free will," he told her.

"Does this visit have a point?" Zoe asked then. "I do have work today," she told him, finding it easy to take her anger out on him.

"Nothing that happened last night was his fault. He loves you, Zoe. I've been his best friend since we were kids and I've never seen him so in love with anyone like he is with you. What you think happened last night, it didn't happen. Talk to him and hear him out," he told her, walking to the door. "He wouldn't cheat on you; he knows what that feels like."

"That's it? That's all you have to say to defend your friend?" Zoe asked, crossing her arms over her chest, not wanting to process anything that Meatball had told her.

"It wouldn't be right if I told you more and I'm afraid I've already told you more than I should have. The rest is up to you and Wade. But if you love him as much as you say you do then talk to him and let him explain things," Meatball told her.

"I needed space and time," she told him guilt-ridden.

"And you should be telling him that and not me," Meatball said walking out of her apartment.

Zoe fell to her couch trying to understand what Meatball had told her. Wade had been cheated on, that was something she wasn't expecting to hear. Who in their right mind would cheat on him? She had rushed to a conclusion last night and she couldn't deal with what she thought happened. She needed the space and the time to clear her head and think and she couldn't do that with Wade on top of her begging and pleading with her all night. Kicking him out seemed like the logical thing to do but waking up this morning and the ramifications of what she had done settled in and she knew it was wrong of her to do. She couldn't change it now and she was finding it hard to actually face Wade.

"Hel…" Zoe was in the process of answering her phone that had pulled her from her thoughts.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?" Katie yelled into the phone in pure panic.

"No," Zoe said then, looking to the clock on the wall, her eyes bugging out seeing that it was while after 4. "Crap," she muttered into the phone, jumping from the couch. Her shift started 6 hours ago.

"Crap is right, Zo. He's pissed," Katie informed her.

"Thanks for calling," Zoe told her friend, hanging the phone up. She quickly rushed to get ready and out the door in less than 15 minutes. She wouldn't be surprised if this would cost her the job she loves so much. People and traffic weren't on her side in her hurry to get to the hospital.

Probation and suspension were the two words that circled around in her head as she got what little personal things she had in a locker in the break room. She had seen it coming. It wasn't like her to be late or miss a day without calling a head and a break up if you could even call it that wasn't a good enough of an excuse to help save her from losing her job.

"That bad, huh?" Katie asked, entering the room. Zoe nodded her head. "I tried calling you all afternoon," her friend told her sadly.

"I know but this is on me and right now and I don't know if I'm more depressed because I could potentially lose my job after the suspension is up or losing my boyfriend," Zoe told her friend.

"What?" Katie asked shocked. "I thought things were going great between the two of you?"

"They were until I accused him of cheating on me without even hearing his side of the story, just kicked him out because I couldn't deal. Pretty messed up, huh?" Zoe asked, sitting on the arm of the couch.

"You must've had your reasons, Zo. That accusation doesn't just hit you unless he gave you a reason to think that. Have you tried to talk to him?"

"Not yet, I don't know if I can face him," Zoe said sadly, getting up. "I should be going before I end up getting escorted out," Zoe said, turning to hug her friend.

"This place sure is going to be different without you around," Katie said, breaking the hug.

"I won't be far," Zoe said. "Take care," she told her friend, heading out hearing Katie tell her the same thing.

Walking past the bar Wade played at she found herself entering and looking around to see if he was there. She didn't know where else to look for him at. She doubted that he would be at home waiting for her, not after the way she had treated him last night. She felt like it was up to herself to fix things between them. Not seeing him in the dimly lit bar that was nearly empty she walked up to the bar.

"What can I get for ya?" The bartender asked her.

"I was wondering if Wade was around. The lead singer of Sippin' Whiskey," she told him, leaning on the bar top.

"I'm sorry but he came in about 6 hours ago and quit. Said his band was more than capable of finishing off the reminding days. Some personal issue back home came up for him."

"Okay, thanks," she told him, the rest of her mood draining. The bartender nodded and went back to work.

Getting home she tossed her stuff into the chair, as she walked through her living room to her kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine. She pulled her phone out and called Wade. It was no shock to her when her call went straight to voicemail. She left him a message that she really wanted to talk to him and to call her back ASAP. Instead of waiting around for Wade to call her she called Lavon.

"Hey, big Z, what's up?" Lavon asked.

"Hey Lavon, a lot actually, I was just calling to see if Wade was around there."

"He's not. Didn't he tell you about his dad?" Lavon asked then.

"No," Zoe told him worry washing through her. "What happened to Earl?"

"He had a stroke. He kept forgetting to take his blood pressure medication," Lavon explained for her. He had thought it was funny that Wade hadn't told Zoe but then maybe he had forgotten to let her know when he had gotten the call about his dad needing to get home before it was too late.

"I can't believe it," Zoe said in shock. She had really thought that Wade left because of what transpired between them and she was wrong, it was much worse. "I've got to go, Lavon. If you talk to him can you not tell him about this?" Zoe asked, walking to her bedroom.

"I can't make a promise like that Zoe," he told her.

"Lavon we got into a fight before he left. I don't even know if we're together or not. That's why he didn't tell me or call me once he got there to let me know what was going on. So please don't tell him," she begged him.

"I don't like it Big Z. I hate keeping things from my friends. I won't mention it unless he asks, okay?" Lavon asked then.

"Okay," Zoe agreed. She was sure that Wade wouldn't be asking Lavon if he had heard from her, not when he had this thing with his dad going on.

After getting off the phone Zoe quickly got things tossed into a suitcase. She was going to Alabama. Not only did she need to fix things with Wade but he needed her right now and she didn't want to be anywhere else than right next to him giving him the comfort that he needed.

She had almost made it out the door before she got the best of herself. She was starting to think that showing up at the hospital in Mobile wasn't a good idea. She couldn't be certain that he even wanted to see her. He never let her know what was going on and that was enough reason for her to stay in New York.


	36. Chapter 36

**To everyone that reads my other stories, I'm sorry but I won't have them updated until Monday and Tuesday. Enjoy and Happy Holidays :)**

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"What are you doing here?" Wade practically growled standing up from the chair he was slouched in waiting on the news on how his father was doing. He had been given updates, one minute Earl would be doing fine and he could go see him, but then something happened and he needed to be rushed into surgery, it was something to do with his liver, they were certain they would be able to save him and that was the hope Wade was going on.

"He is my dad as well, Wade. They called me and I came. Can't we like I don't know put all this shit behind us and work on being brothers again?" Jesse asked, taking a seat on the other side of the empty room.

"I don't think that's possible," Wade told him, sitting back down, his eyes staying locked on the door.

"Why not? Do you really hate me that much?"

"I don't hate you," Wade said shaking his head at his brother. "I forgave you for what you had done so long ago. I can forget it ever happened, but the problem is I can't trust you and I don't know how to start trusting you again Jesse."

"You need to start by letting me in slowly day by day. I hate what I did but life on the road wasn't right for you. What were you going to do while I was in basic training? Or overseas?" Jesse asked. "That life wasn't for you. Being home with dad was the best thing for you," Jesse explained. He would have loved to take his brother with him but it didn't make sense.

"Not that it matters," Wade mumbled. "You're sorry, I forgive you can we just move on?" Wade asked, over the whole thing.

"We can, but don't you like I don't know want to talk about things?" Jesse asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"We did, Jesse. You explained why you did it and I get it and I forgive you. I don't understand what it is you want to talk about," Wade stated.

"I guess nothing. I just figured you'd have more to say is all," Jesse commented.

"I don't," Wade confirmed. "One day at a time Jesse, I can't do more than that."

"I wasn't asking you to," Jesse confirmed. "How's that girlfriend of yours? Everyone in town is talking about you two," Jesse said.

"She's at work," Wade replied on the cold side. He hadn't meant to take off on her like that. He had planned on going back after her shift to talk things through. He felt bad for the way he had taken off on her.

After having his chat with his brother and still no word from the doctor, Wade stepped outside to get some fresh air. He didn't want to deal with anymore questions about Zoe. It was the first time he looked at his phone since getting to Bluebell. He sighed seeing the missed call from Zoe. He didn't waste time in listening to what it was she had said in the voicemail she left for him. Instead he called her back. As much as it hurt that she wouldn't hear him out or trust that he wouldn't do something like that to her, he still needed her; he really wished that she was here with him.

"Wade," Zoe answered shocked but happy to be hearing from him.

"Zo, I'm sorry for just taking off and not letting you know," he was saying, before his nerves made him stop. "I know you can't get away from work but I really wish you were here. I need you and I know we're fighting but I just want to forget about that right now. My dad, he's…" he trailed off to get his emotions in check.

"I know, Wade," Zoe told him then. "It's okay I understand and for the time being we can forget the fight until we know how your dad is doing," she told him. It was the logical thing to do. "Just know that I'm sorry and when you're ready to explain things to me, I'm ready to listen with an open mind," she told him. "And Wade, you're wrong," she told him making him every bit confused. "Turn around."

He did as told, relief flooding his face seeing Zoe now stood in front of him. He wasted no time in pulling her in for a hug. "How?" He asked, against her neck.

"I've been suspended from my job because I spent hours and hours with my head in the clouds thinking about you and something that I was told, but all that matters is that I'm here," she told him. "How are you holding up with everything?" She asked rubbing his back.

"Freaking out, that's my dad in there and it's been hours since he's been in there and I don't know anything. And on top of this thing with my dad my brother showed up ready to make amends and I forgive him, I just can't trust him," Wade sighed, burying his face into the crook of her neck.

"With time, Wade," she told him, holding him close. Putting their problem to the side to help Wade deal with this thing with his dad was the right call, she wasn't ready to address what happened at the party she walked in on and Meatball's words were right there in her mind. "Why don't we go see if they have any news, shall we?"

Wade didn't say anything just pulled her into his side and started to walk. Pushing things to the back of his mind was hard to do when asked; all he wanted to do was to make things right with Zoe. He couldn't believe that Zoe had gotten suspended because of him. Another thing that wouldn't leave his mind was what it was that she was told. Was it something about him? He pushed that thought out of his mind, no he couldn't think of anyone that would go tell Zoe anything about him. The only person he talked about Zoe with was Meatball and he had told Wade his opinion on Zoe every chance he got.

"So that's why you gave me the cold shoulder after learning my name?" Jesse asked, watching Zoe and Wade walk back in.

"You ignored my brother because of me?" Wade asked with a smile.

"It was either be nice to Jesse and make my boyfriend mad at me which I didn't want or give him the cold shoulder to keep the peace in my relationship," Zoe explained. It may seem silly now that they had this thing between them, but she didn't want anything to jeopardize her relationship with Wade at the time. "Can I say that I'm happy you two are working things out?" Zoe asked trying to keep the awkward silence from taking over.

"Is that so?" Jesse asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course," she smiled, "I've wanted you guys to talk things through for a while now, I just never had the nerve to do anything about it," she confided. Ever since she had made amends with her mom because of Wade she had been trying to find a way to make Wade talk to Jesse. She was happy that they had came together on their own like this and worked things out. She doubted anything she could've pulled off would've worked. "Brothers shouldn't be so distant and cold towards each other. You guys were close, that's what I'm told at least. It's stupid to let one thing break that up."

"Yeah but it was one huge thing," Wade said. "But like I said it's water under the bridge at this point. We can only move forward," he stated.

"That is the logical thing to do," Jesse agreed. "Are you two okay?" He asked, looking at his brother and Zoe. "Something just seems off," he said.

"Nothing that can't be fixed," Wade said. He was hoping it could be fixed once they got a chance to talk things through. It was just a misunderstanding a huge one at that.

Just then the doctor came into the room to talk to Wade and Jesse. Zoe stayed back; she didn't think she needed to be there as the doctor told them what was going on. Wade sunk back into the chair next to Zoe, filling her in on the fact that he had gone into coma but they were certain that he would wake in just a few days.

With the okay to go in and visit with him, Zoe held onto Wade's hand as they walked into the room. She remained quiet as Wade said a few things to his father. Jesse informed them that he was going to stay the night and if anything changed that he would call. On the way back to Wade's place they had got some food. They were going to talk everything out and before they fell asleep their relationship would either be fixed or ruined.


	37. Chapter 37

"I'm ready to hear you out," Zoe told him, making herself comfortable on his couch. She didn't want to hold off on this talk any longer than necessary. It was a talk that needed to happen but not only that it was a good distraction from Earl.

"You need to believe me that I would never cheat on you sober or drunk, I'd be a fool if I did," he started out saying, sitting next to her on the couch facing her. "It was only supposed to be the guys cause I missed just hanging out with them." Zoe nodded her head that was something she could understand. "And before I knew it the place was filled with people I didn't even know. I wanted them out before you got home." Remaining quiet while Wade explained the whole night seemed to be the best option for Zoe. It wasn't the party she was worried about or even cared about. It was that strange woman on his lap she cared about. "The lipstick on my cheek that was from Cheryl ya know Nash's wife. She's like that with everyone." She barely knew Nash, she has never met Cheryl. Maybe that was her fault for not wanting to get to know anyone in his band, well that was going to change. She really wanted to believe that they could make it through this and be okay.

"I think it would be best if I get to know the people in your band and their significant others," Zoe told him, she wasn't going to start talking like their relationship was over with until all the facts were out, that was if this whole thing could be resolved, she still hadn't heard him explain why there was some random chick on his lap.

Wade wholeheartedly agreed with Zoe on that one, once he was able to prove that he had done nothing wrong that night, except for letting things get out of hand instead of kicking people out sooner. "I can make that happen but right now that's not my biggest concern," he told her, running a hand through his hair. Zoe nodded her head letting him know that she agreed with him. This was it, either Zoe believed him or she didn't and if she didn't believe him, she couldn't possibly trust him so could their relationship work out if there was no trust there? Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, he forged ahead. "The guys thought it would be funny, I didn't, I tried to keep her from doing it, but my protest fell on deaf ears. I didn't need anything from her."

"What are you talking about Wade?" Zoe asked trying hard to follow what he had just said, but none of it had made sense to her.

"She did a little stripping on the side of whatever her real job is," Wade informed her.

"A stripper?" Zoe asked trying so hard to stay calm about this. Why would he need a stripper for? Surely she was more than enough for him, at least that's what he has told her.

"The guys thought it would be a funny joke if they got her to give me a lap dance. I tried to keep her from doing it, I pushed her away, and she wouldn't move kept saying I needed to relax and enjoy it. But I didn't and I swear I didn't ask her to do it; I wanted her to leave me alone. The guys admitted that they had sent her as a joke. I'm sorry baby," he finished telling her.

"After all it was just harmless fun, right?" Zoe asked, licking her lips.

"Exactly, but I didn't want it," he stressed.

"Except it wasn't, Wade. I know you're saying that you didn't want the lap dance and you tried to get her off of you, but you could've gotten up and walked away," Zoe told him. "And it hurt to walk in and see that," she told him.

"I get that and even that night I knew that it would and I honestly tried to stop it. I did try Zoe, but that's when you walked in and I wish I could take it back because I hate seeing you that hurt because I was being stupid," he told her, taking her hands in his. "I love you Zoe, so damn much that it hurt to walk away that night and give you the space you wanted," he told her.

"I know," she told him, locking her eyes with his. "It hurt worse to watch you walk away than what I was accusing you of," she admitted to him. She could look past this, he wasn't cheating on her and she felt relief knowing that, but could they move past this? "But with this huge misunderstanding can we move forward?" She asked. She wanted to forget it ever happened; she just wasn't sure how easily she could let it go. She believed him, she knew he could easily lie to her about it, but with the truth shining in his eyes and what Meatball had told her, it didn't seem like he would just lie to her about it. He had to know that if he was lying about it, that the truth would eventually come out.

"We can Zoe. I know it's going to be hard but we can make it work, if you want to," he said, his voice breaking as he said those four words. He wanted this to work out, he'd do everything in his power to make it work, but he could only do so much if she didn't want to be with him. It was hard to prove anything with the miles that separated Bluebell and New York.

"I love you, Wade it would be stupid of me to walk away now. I believe we can fix this thing between us," she told him, seeing him relax, a smile spreading across his lips.

"Since I agree to that, I've heard that makeup sex is the best," he smirked, flinging a laughing Zoe over his shoulder.

* * *

The next day found them back at the hospital. Even though they had talked things through the night before and they were on the recovery to things being good between them, there was still a little something missing between them and things between them weren't the same as before. It was to be expected though; they couldn't just pick things back up from where they left off at, it was going to require them to work at it.

"Are you okay with Jesse hanging around?" Zoe asked as they walked into the hospital.

"Not really, no," Wade responded pushing the button to call the elevator. "But I'll suck it up. He's here for my dad and if things manage to miraculously fix themselves between him and myself, it'll be fine but I don't have the right to kick him out," Wade told her, stepping into the elevator, Zoe following him. "I want a relationship with him, have since he took off," Wade confessed.

"This is your chance, Wade. You pushed me into talking to my mom and now it's my turn to push you into taking and rebuilding the bond you had with Jesse," Zoe said pushing the button for the right floor. "All you can do is try, Wade," she told him, resting her free hand on his arm.

"I know and like I told him last night I do forgive him and I do get why he left without me," Wade told her lowly. Jesse was right in doing so; he wanted a reason to hate his brother for leaving him. He wanted Jesse to hurt the same way he had. Now that just seemed to be childish.

"Making amends will do a person wonders," Zoe told him with a smile, leaning up to kiss his cheek, before stepping from the elevator.

"Don't I know," he smirked, pulling his hand free and wrapping it around her shoulders, pulling her close as they walked down the hall to his father's room.

They came to stop hearing a few voices carry from the partially open door. Wade knew it was wrong of him to keep Zoe quiet as they listened to what was being said, but in all fairness Jesse and his dad were in the middle of a conversation about him, so they way he saw it, he had every right to hear what they were saying.

"I don't know how much longer I can try. He says he forgives me but I don't think he really does," Jesse said with a sigh. "If I knew that he'd hate me this much, I wouldn't have left," Jesse was in the progress of saying.

"You would have regretted it then," Wade said entering the room, Zoe behind him. "Not only that you would have resented me for making you stay. I hate that you left me behind, but I don't dislike the man you've become or the person you're tying to be, Jesse. Leaving was the best thing for you and I would never want you to stay back because of me, I might just have resented you for doing that," Wade told him being completely honest with his brother. "And I do forgive you, Jesse."

"You mean that?" Jesse checked.

"Of course I do, Jesse," Wade responded. "It was just easier to hate you, then to put the pain aside you caused. I knew back then why you left me behind."

Zoe went over and leaned against the wall next to Earl's bed. "Look at that miracles do happen," Zoe commented, watching her boyfriend and his brother embrace in a hug.

"That they do," Earl chuckled. "If you're wondering I'm doing okay," he told her with a smirk.

"Of course you are," Zoe replied. "You need to be tough to handle those two," she told him. Earl laughed, shaking his head. He liked his youngest son's girlfriend; he really hoped that Wade didn't do anything to mess it up or her for that matter. He knew very little about Zoe, just what Wade had told him and what he had learned from the few times they had met before, but he liked them together. Seeing them together reminded him of his own relationship with Jackie when they were starting out.


	38. Chapter 38

**Just a warning, the end to this story is near. I already have the last chapter coming together. My plan is to have this story finished up by the end of the week. Also I know that by now I'd have a new story or two going but I want to get a little further in the stories I do have going now before starting anymore and I'm stuck on what story I want to post next. Would anyone be interested in a poll to determine the next story? Anyway enjoy this chapter!**

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Earl had recovered sooner than expected and within a week and a half he was able to go home. Jesse who had stayed in town to make sure that his dad was going to be okay and make up for lost time with Wade, brought his dad home while Wade and Zoe made sure Earl's place was cleaned and that no traces of alcohol were to be found.

"How are things going with Jesse?" Zoe asked, resting her head on his arm as they stood outside waiting for Jesse to pull up with Earl. They were done inside except for the few loads of laundry waiting to be washed.

"Good actually," he smiled, wrapping an arm around her. "I spent so much time hating him for his actions that I never knew just how much I had missed spending time with him," Wade told her. They'd get a few hours to talk and just hang out every day. Wade had been concerned about that at first, not wanting to get close to his brother again just to have him take off.

"That's good, he does seem like a good guy," Zoe commented. She didn't have the past with him like Wade had, she only knew who he was now and not who he had been and who she saw now she liked that guy. She could see that Jesse was really trying to make those amends in his life. And that even though he was the one to leave he was hurt just like everyone else was.

"Yeah," Wade commented with a smile. "You haven't told me when it is you have to go back," he said easily changing the topic.

"Pretty soon," she told him sadly. "I'm going to head back in a day or two and see if I can get back to work, I miss working," she told him. She hated to leave, she loved being in Bluebell with everyone else. She had even been able to talk to Dr. Breeland about Harley. And everything that she had heard about the man that was her father, she really liked and hoped that she could be like him one day. "Did I tell you that Dr. Breeland has told me on more than one occasion that he would love it for me to come work with him so I can truly learn who my dad was and get down to my southern roots?" She asked with a soft sigh.

"No, you haven't," Wade responded. "You'd be giving up lot to do that," he said then.

"I would but at the same time, I'd be gaining more," she replied. The offer to come here and work for Brick was amazing, she'd learn more about her heritage and be near Wade, but she'd be giving up the only life she knew in New York. She didn't want to make a rushed decision either, she wasn't going to move and give her life up for a guy, even if she did love him. She had to rule Wade out of the equation and decide what would be best for her in the long run. She saw first hand that love doesn't always last and she can't move solely based on love alone, not yet anyway.

"Zoe can you do me a favor?" He asked her. Zoe nodded her head, letting him continue with what he planned on telling her. "We'll figure us out when the time comes but I don't want you to take a job because of me, that wouldn't be fair to you. If you want to move here to be closer to your father or if you feel it's the right thing for you then do it, but don't take the job because we'll be closer," he told her laying it all out there.

"Not to be harsh," she started to say, "I wasn't going to. I know that we can make it through wherever our lives take us. When it's meant to be it will be. We'll figure us out as time goes on," she told him. He mumbled a good, pressing his lips against her temple as Jesse pulled up to the house.

"It's lovely as always to have you here, Zoe," Earl smiled, sitting on the couch next to her. "Between the two of us, thank you for everything you've done for my youngest. I really haven't seen him this happy since he was a child and he was with his ma," he commented with a soft sigh.

"Likewise," she told him, placing her hand on top of his. "I haven't done nothing but love him," she responded with a smile, looking to the kitchen to see her boyfriend and his brother laughing as they worked on making something quick for lunch. "I'm sorry about losing her; it must've been tough on you."

"No reason to be sorry," he told her. "I've spent too many years wishing and burying my sorrow that I missed out on the best times in my life. I missed watching my boys grow up," he heaved a sigh, patting Zoe's hand. "I realized way too late that she wouldn't have wanted any of that. She would've wanted us to be happy and to celebrate the life we were left with."

"It was hard, Earl. Sometimes you need a set back in life to get you to where it is you're needed to be at. You may have missed out on some of the mile stones in their lives," she said, nodding towards the kitchen. "But they have many more to come and the thing that counts is that you'll be around to see them happen. If you ever doubt that, just know that I believe in you Earl," she told him sweetly. He needed someone to believe in him and she did. If he kept his mind to it he'd be sober for years to come. Like any ex-addict that urge was going to be there, there was no doubt about that, but with love from those closest to him, he'd remain sober.

"Thank you for that, Zoe," Earl complimented her. Having someone believe in him and not doubt him, it made him feel alive, like anything was possible. He really liked Zoe and he was truly happy that his youngest boy was able to find someone with such an amazing heart. He could see Harley Wilkes was right there, he had heard the gossip after she left the first time. "Ya know, Harley was my best friend and he loved you dearly, so much so that he didn't want to disrupt the life you had going on in that fancy city of yours, and well he's proud of the person you were and of the person you are now. He's in you more than you could ever see," Earl told her.

"Thank you for that," she told him on the verge of tears. Being told what he had been told well that meant the world to her. She could only wish that she would've had a chance to really know he was and spend time with him. If only.

"Don't tell me you were talking about some," Wade was saying when he entered the living room. He looked between his father and girlfriend wondering just what they were talking about. "Everything okay in here?" He asked instead of finishing his initial comment.

"We're good," Zoe assured him with a smile. He just kept looking at his father and girlfriend debating if he wanted to go back into the kitchen or stay in the living room to double check that things were okay. Seeing his girlfriend's eyes all watery worried him.

"Would ya get?" Earl asked with a smirk. "I got me some more stories to tell this one to make her doubt why she's with ya," Earl chuckled.

"Oh no, in that case, I'll make myself comfortable over here," Wade told them serious, going to sit down.

"Heck no ya don't," Jesse yelled from the kitchen. "You're gonna get that annoying butt of yours back in here to help before I set this damn kitchen up in a ball of fire," he told his brother. Wade laughed, getting back up.

"Don't believe a word he says, he is a crazy ol' man," Wade smirked, leaving them alone once more.

"Don't listen to that one," Earl told Zoe, making her laugh. "I remember the first time I knew he was going to be a handful," Earl shared. "He had just turned 5, wanted some kind of toy car, he didn't get the one he wanted and he refused to come home. He spent a week in his tree house, his ma would take him food and things to drink, and made sure he had blankets and clothes. Heck he would've stayed out there longer, but a really nasty storm came through, he had no choice but to come in the house. By the time the storm was over with there was nothing left of that little tree house," he reminisced. He remember that memory perfectly and he was realizing that it didn't hurt to talk about his late wife, if anything it helped to keep her memory alive deep within him.

Zoe laughed at the story. She had no doubts that Wade would do something like that. He was still stubborn like that. She caught Wade's eye and she shared a smile with him. Spending time with her boyfriend's family, it wasn't so bad after all, made her feel like she was apart of their family.

"Dad really seems to like her," Jesse commented, leaning against the counter. "Heck everyone seems to like her."

"Yeah," Wade commented with a cheesy smile on his face. "I love her and I'm starting to think that she's the one. I don't have a single doubt that she's the one for me," he confessed with a sigh.

"But?" Jesse prompted him.

"But nothin'," he sighed, turning the heat to the stove off. "It's just a matter of time. I can't tell her that I want her to move here and take the job at the practice, that wouldn't be fair for her. She needs to realize what she wants on her own. Either way, we'll get it sorted, but for now, I'm going to enjoy my time with her and let the rest of the pieces fall as they may," he told his brother.

"It'll work out," Jesse told him with pat to the back. "It always does," he smiled, thinking back to his own predicament with his family. He didn't think that he'd be here with them after everything that had went on between them and here he was. He had faith that things between Zoe and Wade would work out and they'd be together for the long haul in life. He couldn't see them being any other way; they were a match made in heaven.


	39. Chapter 39

She was doing the right thing for her. She had plenty of time on the plane ride to figure out what it was that she wanted and when the plane had landed in New York her mind had been made up. All she had to do was inform those that we're close to her and her soon to be former boss.

"And you're sure we can't make you stay?" Katie asked with a sad smile, swirling the wine in her glass.

"I'm sorry but I need to do this, to know who he is and see if maybe I'm anything like him," she told her friends.

"We do get it Zo, but that doesn't make it easy for us. We're not just losing a friend, you're like a sister to us," Gigi told her. "Are you sure that you're doing this for the right reasons?"

"Yes," Zoe told them, nodding her head. "I've left Wade out of the equation when making my choice. I'm doing this for me because I want to know the man I didn't get a chance to know when he was alive. It feels like there's this piece of me missing and I won't get it back until I know who he is and what he stood for," she explained. Leaving the only place she knew as home was hard, but she had to do it. And she was doing it for herself and no one else.

"Do you think that Wade would do that for you?" Zoe thought about the question. The thing was she didn't know either way if he would or wouldn't. And she wasn't going to test him either. She felt like he would and that was a good enough answer for her. She didn't see it as who was giving something up because they were only gaining something pretty amazing.

She finished up with her friends and headed home where her mom was waiting for her. Zoe gave her a smile; she had planned on being home when her mom showed up. So far she found telling her mom her news was the hardest one to tell. She really didn't know how Candice was going to take the news of her moving away.

"I'm moving to Bluebell. I don't expect you to like it or even understand it, but it's not for the reason's you think," Zoe told her, getting straight to the point.

"So it's not so you can get to know who just your father was?" Candice asked. Zoe gave her a look. "I figured with the way things with Wade are going that sooner or later you'd end up in Bluebell. As much as I don't want you to go, the choice is yours. I've kept your father away from you long enough, it's only right you do this. What does Wade think?" Candice asked her.

"I haven't given him my answer yet. I wanted to get everything taken care of here first. So you're really okay with this?" She double checked.

"I will be," she told her daughter. "I can't keep you here, I do have to let you go at some point," she sighed.

"You do know that I'll be back to visit and you're always welcome to come visit," she told her mother. Candice nodded her head.

Walking to her boss's office Zoe could only hope that this conversation went as well as the other ones she had, but she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that by the time she walked out of his office, she would be questioning the very choice she had made.

"I'm sad to hear that, Dr. Hart. Here I thought you we're coming back in to plead your case so you could get back to work," her boss said.

"That was my intention, but I have so many questions about my father that no one can answer for me," she explained. "I need to know who he was and unfortunately I can't get those answers in pictures or in letters, I need to be there, to hear stories from the ones that were closest to him, to know my family I have there, to be in the same place he is."

"What if I was to say that your suspension has been lifted? Would you reconsider?"

"It would make me rethink everything," she informed her boss.

"Then take a few days to think about your options and once you're certain we'll have a little chat." Zoe could agree with that.

Making the choice before was easy because she wasn't sure about her job in the city, but now that she was given the choice to come back, it was a harder choice to make and she was back to where she started. She still wanted to learn all she could about Harley, but could see give up her dream job to do so?

A few days later saw Wade sitting at Lavon's having a beer with him. He had yet to hear from Zoe. When he had talked to her last she had told him that she had a meeting with her boss and she was going to discuss what was the best option for her with him. He wasn't certain on what way Zoe was leaning. He knew that if she didn't move to Bluebell that it wasn't going to be the end of them and he was more than capable of moving to the city even if he didn't like it as much as she did, but what counted was that they'd be together and that was enough for him, but he wasn't going to make any life changing choices until he heard from Zoe. It would be silly of him to jump on a plane and move to New York City if she would be moving to Bluebell. But for him moving to New York just wasn't possible not with the contract he had laying on the table.

"Are you going to take it?" Lavon asked, pulling him from his thoughts on Zoe. Wade shrugged his shoulders picking at the label on his beer bottle.

"I want to, but what am I sacrificing if I take it?" He asked. He had been offered a record deal in New Orleans and with everything going on around him, he just wasn't sure he wanted to take it.

"This is about Zoe isn't it?" Lavon questioned him.

"Not all of it," Wade sighed. "I just got Jesse back and my dad's health," he explained, leaning forward to run a hand over his face and through his hair. "How can I leave them behind?"

"You wouldn't be leaving them behind. They would all understand and I'm pretty sure Zoe wouldn't want you to turn down something like this because of her. Earl wants you to do whatever makes you happy and Jesse well I think he'd understand it. Just because you want this doesn't mean you have to forget about your family and friends here, Wade," Lavon tried to reason with him.

"I get that, I just don't know what to do Lavon," Wade sighed.

Lavon had tried and that was all he could do. He couldn't push Wade into doing something that he didn't want to do. He was sure if there was one person that could make Wade do anything it would be Zoe. She'd make him see sense into what it was he had in front of him.

Their little silence was broken up by Wade's phone ringing. He picked it up walking outside. He didn't want an audience for what he would be talking about with Zoe. "Zoe before you say anything, I need to tell you something," he told her, walking the path to his place.

"You really shouldn't start a phone call out that way," Zoe told him. "Now all I can think about is something bad is about to take place and I don't think I can handle that," she told him.

"Uh, yeah sorry about that," he told her taking a seat on his steps. "It's just before you tell me what it is you decided on, I have to tell you that I've been offered a record contract," he told her wanting it to be out there.

"That's amazing, Wade," Zoe told him all excitedly. "Are you going to take it?" She questioned him.

"I want to, I do, but I just don't think I can," he sighed, pushing himself up off the stairs to pace around on his porch.

"Why not, Wade?" She asked, chewing her lip, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Because you're thinking about moving here, Jesse's back and my dad," he explained vaguely but she understood.

"If I wasn't involved or Jesse wasn't back in your life and your dad was fine, would you take it?" She asked, looking around her bedroom.

"In a heartbeat," he replied, "but that isn't the case."

"But it is," she replied. This was going to be hard for her, but she had to do it. She didn't want Wade to hold back from doing what it was he wanted to do with his life because of her. "You need to leave me out of the equation Wade. I'm moving there but I don't want you to stay and give this up, it's a great thing for you. Moving there to be with you was going to be amazing, but from the start I've made this move for me because I want to know Harley Wilkes. Jesse will be fine and he wouldn't ever want you to put your life on hold because of him and your dad, he's going to be fine and I'll be there to keep an eye on him and it's not like you're going to be that far away, Wade. You can always come back. But all three of us have the same thing in common, we want you to be happy," she told him. "Don't ever think you have to stay for me," she told him softly.

"So you think that I should take the offer?" He softly asked letting a small smile appear on his face.

"I really do, you have the talent Wade, a talent that needs to be shared with the world. I'll be right where you left me."

"You do know that I wouldn't break up with you for this right?" He asked worried she felt like that.

"I know you wouldn't. I also know that you'll be amazing and together we'll make it through this. I don't want you to miss out on such an amazing opportunity in your life because of me," she told him. "This is your dreams we're talking about here Wade, you deserve to live them."

"Then it looks like I'm headed to New Orleans," he smiled into the phone. "I'll still be here when you get in, when do you get in?" He asked, sitting on his porch. Zoe laughed and filled him in on the fact that she'd be there in a day or two.

Things were going to be hard with them once again being in different states but this time however they were going to be closer. It was hard for Zoe to tell him to go, but this was something he needed to do. He would've jumped at the chance if she wasn't involved in his life and she wouldn't take the responsibility, the guilt or the resentment he was sure to have in the future for not doing this.

* * *

 **Please go and vote in the poll that's on my profile page, for the new story you want to see once I've gotten a few more of my current ones going to end. Just click on my username and you should be able to see the poll. Thank you. Hope all of you guys enjoyed this little chapter.**


	40. Chapter 40

_**There's a time jump in this chapter. It should be easy to figure out. But regular print is the future and the italic is the past/the present from the rest of the story. Bold and Italic is a little song. But this is the last chapter of the story. I hope you all enjoyed not only this chapter but the whole story. Thank you for reading, reviewing, putting it on your alerts and adding it to your favorites list. Remember to head on over to my page to vote in the poll! Enjoy!**_

* * *

"Daddy that's not very fair," a 16 year old Brianna Jaclyn said on the verge of sadness and disappointment. "Mommy picked her life up and moved to Bluebell and you left!" She scolded her father. "How could you do that?"

"Brie, I'm sure Dad didn't mean anything by it," an 18 year old Reed Everett responded. "It's not like he planned it, and look we have proof that everything worked out for the best," he stated.

"Hey," Zoe said gaining the attention of her two oldest kids. "Just like he didn't want to hold me back I didn't want to hold him back either and yes things worked out. I personally wouldn't change a thing," she confirmed.

"Yeah, mommy and daddy love each other," an 8 year old Gracelyn Kandace stated.

"We love each other very much, munchkin," Wade stated. "I didn't have to go but I'm happy that I did, happy your mom pushed me into going," Wade informed his children and his wife.

"This gave us the last little piece we needed. I had to figure out who your grandfather was so I could tell you three about him and your dad needed to fulfill his dreams in life. We wanted what was best for each other and we got it. And we were closer than we had been before. We didn't let the few hour distance change anything, if anything it only brought us closer together," Zoe explained.

"So you're saying that because you guys were further apart you had to like talk about things which in return brought you closer together as a couple?" Reed questioned.

"Yes, that's exactly it," Wade told his son. "And just because you're headed off to college on one side of the country and Faith is headed to the other side doesn't mean it can't or won't work out. If you want it your relationship can work out but it's not easy and you have to have trust and faith in each other or it won't work out."

"Honestly, Reed," Zoe started to say. She never wanted to come right out and hurt her son or any of her kids in such a way but the truth hurt sometimes and this was one of those times. "High school sweethearts don't always last and you need to realize that now. I know how much you love her and she loves you, but that doesn't mean she's the one for you, it's hard to say if you've met her already or not. Faith is a sweet girl and I love her and I would love for her to be apart of our family, but that isn't being realistic," Zoe told her son.

"I know ma," Reed sighed. "We've been through this before. Can't you guys let me decide?"

"As your parents we don't like seeing any of you in pain," Wade stated to say. "We are letting you call the shots Reed, we're trying to help you out by making sure you're prepared and know that if you want this relationship with Faith to work, you have to work twice as hard if not more. All we want is for you too be happy. All of you," Wade told his kids.

"What happened after that?" Little Gracie asked bored with the current conversation going on. She wanted to hear more about her parents.

* * *

 _For the two weeks that Wade was in town at the same time Zoe was there, she stayed with him at the gate house. Wade finished his final two weeks at the Rammer Jammer wanting to get in as many hours as he could because he was going to miss it, not just the part about serving the customers, but the whole atmosphere of the small town and the people._

 _He had been afraid to share the news with his family, but once he had told them it felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. They practically tossed him out of the state of Alabama. They were proud of him and that made him feel giddy. As excited as he was about this new path in his life, the closer the day came for him to move, he started to freak out because he kept thinking that he was going to go there and that he was going to fail._

 _"You're doing it again, aren't you?" Zoe asked, from where she stood folding his clothes and placing them neatly into his suitcase. The way he was tossing them into his suitcase just didn't work for her._

 _"People like different kinds of music, doesn't mean they're gonna like what I put out there," he said, turning to look at his girlfriend, his hands sitting on his hips. "What if I go out there and do my thing and no one likes it? I can't come back from this failure."_

 _"You won't fail at this Wade. You're made to do this. And if your gigs in the city are anything to go by, you're going to have plenty of fans and attention," she told him. "If you happen to fail, I'll still be proud of you," she told him with a smile._

 _"You know that the only attention I want from any women is you, right?" He asked, walking up to her, his hands sitting on her hips. She nodded her head, snaking her hands around his neck. "Nice to see just how much you support me," he told her with a small playful eye roll. Zoe giggles were cut off by his mouth attacking hers._

 _Just like that it was time for Wade to drive off and leave his family and the one he loved behind. The idea of leaving them was hard, but actually going through with it, was tough. But in the end he had managed. The open road for his two hour and some odd minute drive to New Orleans gave him plenty of time to think of new lyrics for a song he already had the music for._

 _Zoe found it hard. She wanted Wade to be chasing after his dreams and she was proud of him no matter what the outcome was going to be. He had offered her to go with him and as tempting as it would be to follow him she couldn't do it. She came to Bluebell to figure out this other half to herself and she couldn't put that on pause. They'd have plenty of time to see each other with just a few hours keeping them apart._

 _Lavon had offered her the carriage house if things got too hard for her in the gate house. She never once took Lavon up on that offer. She needed to be near the things that Wade had left. It was the only way she could feel close to him. She knew that he was coming back but seeing his things daily showed her that he really would be back._

 _It took a few months for things to get into a certain rhythm for them. They figured out the best time to call each other and when it was best to visit. There had been a few times that Zoe would show up at the place that Wade would have a small gig at to help get his name out there. Whenever Wade was given a few days off he would hightail it back to Bluebell surprising Zoe._

 _With 12 long months of hard work he had his first album ready to come out and his own little tour dates set up. He was looking forward to getting out there. He promised himself that after the tour was over with that he would be heading back home and he wasn't going to put pressure on himself to write another album. Being on stage and being the rock star he wanted to be since he was a kid was fun and amazing but he would rather be back home. There were new dreams that had entered his life and he wanted the chance to live those ones out as well._

 _"This place is starting to become really small," Zoe told him one day as they laid in bed. He'd been back from his tour for about a month now and he was really enjoying each day with Zoe. He had even taken his old job back up at the Rammer Jammer._

 _"I think its fine," Wade told her, taking a look around the gate house. Sure their things doubled in size but they had plenty of room to move around._

 _"Maybe for another 8 and a half months," she quipped back, holding back her smile. She wanted to see if he could get it on his own before she had to come out and say it to him._

 _"You're serious?" He asked with a smirk, his hand going to rest atop her stomach. She placed her hand on top of his._

 _"Very serious," she told him. "I only found out today."_

 _"This is amazing," he told her, drawing her lips in for a long and sweet kiss._

 _He had planned on asking Zoe to marry him, had it all figured out. Now it was going to wait because he didn't want Zoe or anyone to think that he was only asking Zoe to marry him because they were going to be having a child together. To him it didn't matter if she was pregnant with his child or not and he'd know when the perfect moment was going to be and he'd just wait for it._

 _Over the next few months saw them try to find the perfect place for them and their baby. Other than their closest friends and family the rest of the town didn't know that Wade and Zoe were going to be parents. And that's just how they wanted it to stay until they were forced to make an announcement on the situation they were in._

 _With Zoe 6 months pregnant they had finally found the perfect house. Most of Wade's days were filled with getting the nursery done with help from Jesse. They had went with a gender neutral color because neither one of them wanted to find out the sex of the baby. They were going for the shock and surprise when their little bundle was born. They had names picked out for either sex. The girls name very dear to Wade because they would be naming her after his mom and on top of that Earl had told them what Wade and Jesse would have been named if they would have been a girl._

 _With Zoe out with Lavon and Annabeth in what had been one of the few non shocking events in town. Wade had been a bit more shocked than Zoe was when they found out George and AB and called off their wedding. He didn't ask questions, he could see that even though they loved each other it wasn't the love they had for other people. But with Zoe out Wade was given time to get something special set up for his girlfriend._

 _Zoe entered the house, lightly rubbing her stomach. She smiled softly following the flower petals that led from the entry way through the house finally to the backyard that was secluded from their neighbors. She smiled at her boyfriend as he sat in a chair, his guitar on his lap, a dozen Bluebells sitting next to him with a small box at his feet._

 ** _'I was content in life; I had no room for love,  
_** ** _in you walked and doc I was hooked,  
_** ** _loving you is a breeze on a hot summer night,  
_** ** _you're the woman I dreamt about on those lonely nights,  
_** ** _an' princess I've gotta know if you can make an honest man out of me?  
_** ** _Won't you please marry me?'_**

 _Gently setting his guitar down he picked up the flowers and the gift, walking up to his watery eyed girlfriend. Giving her the flowers to hold, he took her left hand in his and dropped to bended knee. Zoe watched as he took the beautiful ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger. She looked down at him, finding that words were failing her. Kissing him was the only way she could show him just how much she loved him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him._


End file.
